Lonnie Pacelli's Blog, page 70

Managing Outsourced Relationships

More and more companies are outsourcing everything from IT to call centers to facilities management.  Measuring the effectiveness of the outsourcer is crucial and can mitigate tons of downstream issues for both companies.  Consider the following to help you better measure outsourcer effectiveness:
Get crisp agreement on what will be measured - Be as quantitative as possible with measures and ensure that the measures matter.  It is easy to create scads of measures that no one really looks at, except for the poor analyst who has to spend hours putting the measures together.

Know what you're going to do if measures turn unfavorable - So you've got these great measures, and all of a sudden one of them starts turning south.  Knowing potential courses of action when measures turn unfavorable help you take better and more effective action as opposed to responding in crisis mode.
Amazon.com WidgetsBe realistic - Just because you've outsourced a function doesn't mean there will be dramatic improvement right off the bat.  Develop realistic improvement benchmarks which both parties agree to.

Get examples from the outsourcer on measures from other clients - Ask the outsourcer for other client examples and what has worked well/not so well at that client.  If you can avoid completely re-creating the wheel, do it.

Agree on regular, standing meetings to review performance measures - Have a standing, periodic meeting where both parties review agreed-upon measures and discuss both successes and challenges.  It's super important that the program manager for the outsourcer drive the meeting; don't let the salespeople do it.

Watch the Pontificator!

Excerpted from The Truth about Getting Your Point Across…and Nothing But the Truth
At the offices of one of my clients there was a fellow who I’ll call “Moe.”  Moe was your typical pontificator.  At any time we saw Moe he was standing outside of someone’s cubicle or sitting on someone’s office, coffee cup in hand, waxing poetic about the latest dumb decision management made, the idiots that run his division, or last night’s baseball game.  Moe had an opinion on everything and was very free about letting you know every detail of his opinion.

There was no such thing as a five-minute conversation with Moe.
Unless you excused yourself for whatever reason you were there for at least fifteen minutes listening to his philosophy.  The problem was that Moe was friends with the person managing our contract so we had to put up with him. 
Moe was particularly problematic during meetings.  He diverted agendas, disrupted meeting topics, and wasted tremendous amounts of time.  Despite all this, Moe was a long-time company employee and understood his job well.  But he was still a big pain in the hindquarters. 

It’s likely that that you’ve worked with a person like Moe.  You can do your best to avoid him, but there he is, ready to give you an earful about something.  So how do you handle the Moes of the world during meetings?  How do you keep things on track?  How do you avoid frustrating everyone else in the meeting when the pontificator revs up his engine? 
Amazon.com WidgetsThe first thing you can do about the pontificator at your meeting is to take a good hard look at whether the pontificator absolutely needs to be at the meeting.  Will the pontificator contribute valuable content and perspective that will add value to the meeting?  If not avoid having the pontificator at the meeting in the first place.


If the pontificator needs to be there, try to talk with him beforehand and solicit his help in keeping the meeting moving forward.  Spend a few minutes reviewing the agenda and get him oriented to the meeting topic.  If he has opinions or viewpoints that he wants to air, get him to do it with you beforehand and try to incorporate some of his viewpoint into the topic.   If he sees that he has been heard and if some of his thinking is baked into your agenda, the pontificator is more likely to be a good soldier and not hijack your meeting. 

If you’ve taken this step and the pontificator still feels the need to take control of your meeting, your next mission is to preserve the purpose of the meeting, keep things focused on the agenda, and avoid wasting any of the other attendee’s time.  It is vitally important that you monitor what your pontificator is saying and keep them focused on the agenda item.  If he continues to drift off topic onto his own agenda item ask to have the item taken offline.  If it continues then it is completely within bounds to cut the person off and bring things back to your agenda.  Whatever you do, don’t lose control of the agenda.  Your credibility is at stake with other meeting attendees; losing control of the agenda means a loss of credibility, which you’ll now need to work to regain. 


Pontificators don’t have to spell doom and gloom to your meetings.  If you can ensure that they truly need to be involved in the meeting, get them on your side, and control them when they veer off path, you can still get things done when they are involved. 

California Fights Drought with Big Data, Cloud Computing

Computerworld published an interesting piece which talks about how the East Bay Municipal Utility District is using both Cloud Computing and Big Data to issue report cards on water usage to some of its customers.  I really like the use of data to inform customers on their usage and appeal to their common sense to be more conscious of how much water they use.  In the end the customer gets to choose what they do with the information.  Nice application of both Big Data and Customer Computing. Amazon.com Widgets

How an Autistic Child has Changed a Career….for the Better

Typically, career choices are made based upon responsibilities, compensation, or prestige where a businessperson makes a change to get a higher salary, more responsibility, or greater prestige. What about the situation, though, where the driver behind a career choice isn’t any of these; where it’s the needs of a child that drive the change? My choice was precisely that.

Trevor was a happy, normal, active baby. He was able to laugh, coo, cry, and do all of the other normal things that his big sister, Briana did at that age. To my wife Patty and me, everything seemed to be just fine. At about age two, we noticed that Trevor was hardly saying any words and was very into his own world with puzzles, coloring, and videos. 
Over the next couple of years, we took him to a speech therapist to help him with his language and also enrolled him in a special-needs preschool. During this time we noticed other peculiar characteristics for a toddler; a strong desire for structure (his preschool teachers called him “Mr. Rigid”), obsessive fixations on various topics, and no real desire to associate with other children. Yet Trevor was very easy in that he would keep himself occupied for hours on end playing by himself and acting out whatever imaginary things he could think of. It was very perplexing to us
Amazon.com WidgetsWhen Trevor was five, we took him to specialists at the Autism Center at the University of Washington who conducted a series of tests to assess speech, cognitive understanding, and relational behaviors. At the end of the assessment, one of the specialists explained that Trevor had Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS), a mild form of autism. This was odd to us because we had associated autism with more severe cases (think about Dustin Hoffman in “Rainman”) where speech was limited to non-existent at all and no real interaction between the child and others. Trevor was able to speak and interact but was about two years behind his peers developmentally. The specialist explained that, while Trevor had many characteristics of “normal” children, he saw the world as if peering through a rolled-up newspaper; he had a narrow focus on the world and was inattentive to things that didn’t interest him or how other people perceived him. To give you an example, think of Jack Nicholson in the movie “As Good as it Gets”. His character, Melvin Udall, was a bright, successful author who was obsessed with cleanliness, kept a very rigid schedule, did not walk on sidewalk cracks, and was generally unaware of how he came off to others. Though he wasn’t labeled as such, Melvin could have had PDD-NOS. 

In some respects, knowing that Trevor had a milder form of autism was a relief in that he could learn to control his behaviors and be a high-functioning adult. In other respects, though, having a milder form of autism put him in a sort of purgatory when it came to other kids. He didn’t fit in a traditional special-needs category yet he was clearly unique when compared to other children. Had Trevor grown up prior to the 90’s, his actions would have been viewed as a behavioral problem and he would have been labeled a difficult child. The truth is Trevor wasn’t a behavioral problem; he’s just wired differently than normal children.

Trevor’s public elementary school was wonderful in working with him; he qualified for special services and was able to get one-on-one assistance with a special education teacher. While we were very appreciative of the attention the public school system gave him through sixth grade, we grew concerned about his transition to middle school. Through a lot of discussion, we decided the best thing for Trevor was to pull him out of mainstream school in seventh grade and take on a more customized home-school approach. Patty and I decided that, for Trevor to have the best opportunity to succeed, we needed to share the teaching responsibilities. I had spent eleven years at Accenture and was in my ninth year at Microsoft and was very happy with my career. At the same time we also realized the importance of giving Trevor the best possible educational experience to secure his leading a normal adult life. We decided it best for me to leave my secure, full-time job at Microsoft to focus on a new career which gave us more flexibility to tend to Trevor. It was at this same time that I had written a book called The Project Management Advisor which was in process of being published. I had also just started a new business with a colleague. The timing seemed perfect to take the plunge and leave Microsoft to build a new career as an author and entrepreneur around ensuring Trevor was given what he needed to secure a normal, happy adult life.

Immediately I saw great benefit in being more available to my family and in Trevor getting used to me being around more often. I still have tremendous peace with my career choices and focusing on Trevor was far more important than any promotions or accolades I could have received at Microsoft or some other traditional job.

I realize that a choice like the one I made may not always be feasible. We’ve been very blessed in having the financial means and opportunities to make this decision. What I can say, though, is this investment in Trevor’s future will yield a return that is far greater than any return I could be getting in a more traditional career and see this as the smartest career choice I’ve ever made.

Three Things Big Data Tells Us About How People Use the Bible

Big Data is enabling new and better ways for organizations to achieve their objectives by understanding their target market and helping consumers find what they need.  A great example of this is from this Religion News Service article.  Popular bible software YouVersion released its summary of its bible usage data from 2013.  Through its own data mining capability, YouVersion is able to aggregate what people look for in scripture.  Another super interesting use of Big Data. 

PM Slides from PM Connection

I ran across this really nifty resource for project managers on .  They've aggregated over 100 project management slide decks on PMP certification, Microsoft Project, Microsoft Project Server, Program Management, Portfolio Management, and other topics.  Very cool resource! Amazon.com Widgets

Work-Life Balance is False?

Bustle published a piece about a Senior Vice President at Coca Cola claiming that work-life balance is false and work-life integration is in.  In today's world of hyper-connectedness it does become more and more difficult to separate work and non-work.  At the same time, sometimes the answer to work simply has to be "NO".  The best leaders I know put clear boundaries on things and empower key members of their staff to make decisions for them when they're out of pocket.  In the article the exec talks about how she had to step away from putt-putt golf with her kids to do an email and that the kids should play the next couple of holes on their own.   A parent can phrase things any way they want, but the kids know that they are being deprioritized during a time when they are expecting the parent's 100% attention.  

As a leader, it is super important that you establish those boundaries, empower your team to act in your place when you're out of pocket, and make sure your family doesn't feel deprioritized when they're expecting your dedicated attention.   My kids are now grown and I can look back on the amount and quality of time I spent with them growing up with absolutely no regret.  When they're grown and gone you don't want to be wishing you spent more focused time with them.  That bell has already been rung.

OK, end rant. 
Amazon.com Widgets

Project Management Screw-Up 5 - We Didn't Have The Right Sponsorship

For any project, it’s crucial to get an appropriate level of project sponsorship.  The ideal project sponsor for your project would possess the following characteristics:
He/she directly experiences the pain of the status quo and would directly benefit as a result of doing the project
He/she actively helped craft the project mission statement
He/she has the decision making authority to secure or re-allocate resources to/from other projects as necessary to ensure that your project can be completed successfully
He/she is willing to go to bat for your project with peer managers if you need help in getting something from another organization
He/she is willing to meet with you on a regular basis to ensure that you’re getting what you need to succeed
He/she is willing to make difficult decisions that may be unpopular but are in the best interests of the business
He/she has some “skin in the game” to ensure the project’s success
Now, I recognize that as a project manager you only have so much control over your project sponsor.  Nonetheless, it’s important to diligently try to manage your project sponsor to ensure that you’re getting what you need from him/her. Depending on the scope of your project, it may be beneficial to have a steering committee in place in addition to the project sponsor.  Your steering committee is typically comprised of key managers of your stakeholder organizations.  The primary functions of a steering committee are:Be a decision-making body on key issues that cannot be resolved by the project team

Eliminate any project barriers that the project team is running up against

Be a supporter of any resultant change that the project will bring about to their respective organizations

Provide counsel and guidance to the project team on key aspects of the design and implementation of the product

Assist the project manager in securing required resources for the project

Provide recommendations to the project sponsor on major issues which are beyond the authority of the steering committee

You need to decide whether a steering committee is beneficial to the project.  Some criteria that I have used on projects are as follows:
There are multiple stakeholders that are directly affected by the outcome of the project
There are internal or external subject matter experts that can provide functional, technical, or execution guidance to the project team
The project sponsor has limited time to spend on the project and delegates some of the project decision making responsibility to the steering committee
I’ve successfully completed projects with and without a steering committee depending on the criteria above, but every successful project  always  had an engaged project sponsor.

How it happens:

The project sponsor was either too high or too low in the organization – Just because you have someone that is willing to sponsor your project doesn’t mean that they are the right sponsor for the project.  Optimally, your project sponsor should have decision making authority over the in-scope project areas while at the same time being close enough to the work that they understand the implications of the issues that are raised.  If your sponsor is too low of a level, they’re unlikely to be able to make decisions that will stick and will have to be getting authorization from their management before committing to decisions.  If your sponsor is too high of a level, you��re likely to get decisions made but you’re probably not making best use of management since others at lower levels could be making the decisions you need made.   

The project sponsor was being inundated with issues that could have been resolved by a steering committee – In deciding whether or not you need a steering committee, consider what you’re going to need from your project sponsor and whether or not decisions can be made by others at lower management levels.   If you are continually bringing issues to your project sponsor that can be addressed by other managers, you run the risk of exasperating your sponsor and being labeled as crying wolf.  This will put you in a very difficult situation for when you really need help because your credibility with your project sponsor may be eroded. 

You made the project sponsor work too hard to try to understand your project - In the environments that I have worked, I never gave a project sponsor anything other than presentation-type slides when it came to project reviews and requests for help.  Typically, your time with the project sponsor is limited and he or she has to understand where things are at and what you need from him or her in an efficient manner.  Be very conscious of what you share with the sponsor, how much detail you give him/her and what you want him/her to do for you to help the project succeed. 

You walk a fine line here of being credible with your sponsor and giving them the elevator pitch.  If you’ve already established credibility with your project sponsor to the point where you’re a trusted project manager, then you can possibly afford to be more high-level in your communications as he or she is going to trust you with the details.  If you’re an unknown quantity or (gulp) have gone negative in the credibility column, you’re going to need to be prepared for deep-dives on areas that the project sponsor will want to go.  One technique I’ve seen and used is to have appendix slides which have supporting detail in areas where there’s likely to be question.  The appendix slides are only meant to be used in the event that a specific question arises to support your claims and would not even be seen if no question arises on the topic. 

 Being prepared to go through details is important, but there will be the occasional situation where you just don’t know the answer or don’t have supporting detail.  Your best bet at that point is to simply say “I don’t know, and I’ll get back to you on with the answer.”  It���s much easier to fess up quickly than guess at the answer and later be found wrong.  Keep in mind as well that there are only so many “I don’t knows” you can use before your credibility becomes an issue.  More than a couple in a meeting can turn into a problem pretty quickly. 

You didn’t tell the project sponsor what you need – Working with a project sponsor is a two-way commitment; you need to deliver what the sponsor considers important and they need to help you when you’ve run into an issue you can’t resolve on your own.  The issue could be with another organization, a need to change policy, a team member not participating as agreed or a host of other reasons.   It’s super important that you are very explicit with what you need the project sponsor to do for you.  In your reviews with the project sponsor, it’s helpful to have an “asks” slide which very explicitly lays out what you need the project sponsor to do and when you need it by.  As I’ve discussed earlier, make sure that your requests are appropriate for your project sponsor to be addressing.  If your requests are inappropriate, you run the risk of exasperating your project sponsor and losing credibility. 

You met either too much or not enough with your project sponsor – Depending on the criticality of the project, you may need to meet with the project sponsor either more or less frequently.  I’ve been on projects where we’ve met with the project sponsor on a monthly basis for a one-hour update and have also been on projects where we’ve met weekly for an hour or more.  You need to decide along with your project sponsor what the right frequency needs to be.  I’ve found that meeting at least monthly is important to keeping the sponsor engaged and ensuring project success.   

Warning signs:

You don’t have an identified project sponsor - If you’re running a project and don’t have someone at an appropriate level in the organization sponsoring the work, then you most likely don’t have a viable, sanctioned project and it’s just a matter of time before the project meets an abrupt end.  Someone at an appropriate level in the company needs to care enough about the work that you’re doing to sponsor it.   If not, then you’re better off stopping the work yourself before someone stops it for you. 

You can’t get the project sponsor’s attention – Cancelled meetings, unresponsive emails, unreturned calls, are all signs that your project sponsor isn’t engaged, doesn’t care, is the wrong person, or has more important things to do.  Regardless of the reason, if your sponsor won’t give you the time of day then you’re unlikely to get the support for your project when you really need it. 

Your project sponsor doesn’t help you with management issues – Your project sponsor has a responsibility to the project to provide guidance on key issues that materially impact the resulting work product.  Armed with the right decision factors, a good project sponsor will provide direction on key issues on a timely basis and keep the project moving forward.  I’ve seen some project sponsors, though, that are either unwilling or unable to provide direction on key issues which can ultimately stall out a project.  Having an unwilling or indecisive project sponsor is a pretty clear signal that you’ve got the wrong sponsorship for the project.

Turning things around:

Make sure your project sponsor is current and engaged - Do a regular status meeting with your project sponsor and make sure that they know the status of the project, where there are problems, and what you need from them to keep the project moving forward.  Make sure they know enough about the project so that when you need them to make decisions you’re not spending unnecessary time getting them up to speed on project basics. 

Get clear on your project sponsor’s expectations – Identify the expectations of your project sponsor at the onset of the project to ensure you’re working towards a common end result and that project deliverables are in line with what your sponsor wants.  Periodically validate the expectations to ensure that any changes in expectations are clearly communicated and understood between you and the project sponsor.

Right-size your time with your project sponsor – Chances are your project sponsor has a long to-do list of things that they’re doing and will not want to feel like their time is being wasted.  Determine with your sponsor the frequency, time and method of communications that you need and stick to it.

Tell your project sponsor explicitly what you need for the project to succeed – As discussed earlier, let your project sponsor know as explicitly as you can what you need them to do to ensure project success.  But, make sure your requests are appropriate. Don’t ask them to make decisions that others (or you) could be making. 

Strongly consider stopping the project – If you aren’t able to secure appropriate sponsor engagement, then you should think strongly about stopping the project and refocusing resources on other projects that management cares about.

 Take Aways:

Make sure your project sponsor is interested, engaged, and active in the projectActively decide if a steering committee is necessary for the project in addition to having the project sponsorRaise issues to the project sponsor that are appropriate for him or her to resolveKeep your communication very clear, crisp, and credibleBe very clear on what you need the project sponsor to do to ensure project successDeliberately decide with the project sponsor on how frequently you need to meet based on the criticality of the project Excerpted from The Project Management Advisor - 18 Major Project Screw-Ups And How To Cut Them Off At The Pass (Prentice Hall, 2004)

The 25 Highest Paying Companies for Internships

$60-80k a year for an internship?  Impossible?  Glassdoor published a report on the 25 highest paying companies for internships.  Proof positive that the biggest companies on earth continue to compete for A-list talent and that they're willing to shell out big bucks for that talent even before they finish their degree.  Wow.  Amazon.com Widgets

Gene Study Offers clues as to why Autism Strikes More Males

MSN published a really interesting article on why autism is more prevalent in males than females. To quote the article, "Girls seem to tolerate more genetic mutations than boys do before showing symptoms of disorder."  Autism occurs about four times more in boys than girls.  Continuing to build a greater understanding of this increasingly prevalent disorder (1 in 50 newborns are on the Autism Spectrum) will help us learn more about Autism's origins and how we can help those with autism better cope.  Amazon.com Widgets