Succeed With Your Team!

jo bos, ernst harting & marlet hesselink

PROJECTDRIVEN CREATION

• A concise handbook providing feasible and realistic tech-niques for the implementation of the leading approach to project management, Project-Driven Creation (PDC).

• A unique integration of the four ingredients of successful project management; the traditional (control) tools plus working in project teams plus managing the project envi-ronment plus personal leadership.

• Easily absorbed, practical concepts.• Tricks and tips of the trade.• Clearly illustrated.

In an independent review of project management methods by PMI Netherlands/Berenschot, PDC was rated as the most versatile of them all. They gave it the highest overall score and praised the large number of available practical tools.

The authors, Jo Bos, Ernst Harting and Marlet Hesse-link have many years of expe-rience with project and pro-

gramme management. As consultants, trainers, and coaches working in the field, they share a passion for improving project management through the application of PDC.

www.phaos.nlwww.jo-bos-en-co.nl

isbn 978 90 5594 823 9

jo bo

s, ernst h

arting &

marlet h

esselink

PRO

JECT-DR

IVEN

CREATIO

N

Copyright © 2013 Jo Bos, Ernst Harting, Marlet HesselinkCopyright Chapter 23 Insights © The Insights Group Ltd, 2009. All rights reserved

Editor and English Language Consultant: Sue LoewensteinGraphic design www.igraph.be

No part of this publication may be reproduced in any way or any form without the written permission of the authors, with the exception of short

quotations that form part of reviews and book discussions.

ISBN 978 90 5594 xxx x NUR 800

www.phaos.nlwww.jo-bos-en-co.nl

Preface 6

1 TheEssence 8 2 Projects,programmes,andprocesses 14 3 Phasesinaproject 20 4 Theprojectcontract 26 5 Theprojectdefinition 32 6 Structuringtheproject 38 7 Projectcontrol 44 8 Time:theprojectschedule 50 9 Money 5810 Quality 64 11 Projectorganisation 7012 Communication 7613 Information 8214 Riskmanagement 8815 Forcefieldanalysis 9416 TheProjectStart-Up(psu) 10017 Thecollectiveintake 10618 TheProjectLeader 11219 TheSponsor 11820 Creatingtheprojectteam 12421 Internationalprojectteams 13022 Personalleadership 13623 Insights 14224 Projectsandthelineorganisation 14825 Projectcloseoutandevaluation 15426 ImplementingProject-DrivenCreation 158

Authors 164

Referencestootherchaptersarenotedwitha 1

Contents

Sincetheinitialpublicationof Projectmatig Creëren 2.0.orPMC(ourDutchhandbookonprojectmanagement)per-sonalleadership,commitment,energy,andinspirationhavebecomeanintegralpartofthe‘normal’projectvo-cabulary.Thousandsofprojectleaders,theirteamsandsponsors,havemasteredandnowapplytheconceptsofPMC.Asaresult,PMCisnotonlyanacceptedpractice,buthasbecomeoneoftheleadingsystemsofprojectmanagementinTheNetherlands.

Intheensuingyears,wereceivedmanyrequeststobringoutacompacteditionthathighlightedthekeycon-ceptsandtools.TheDutchversion,PMC Compact,waspublishedasahandyguideaimedatprojectleaders,sponsorsandprojectteams.Itexplainedourmethodsinclearstepsandincludedmanypracticaltipsgarneredfromourdailyexperience.

Ourworkwithinternationalclientschallengedustoaddresstheneedsofmulticulturalprojectteams.Inthecourseoftailoringourconceptsforthisaudienceandre-vampingsomeofourmaterials,werealisedthepotentialutilityofanEnglishlanguageversionofPMC Compact.Asareflectionofitsrevisions,itsportsanewname,Project-Driven Creation(PDC).Youhaveinfrontofyoua‘pocketbook’thatputstheessenceofourapproachliterallywithineverybody’sreach;practicalwithawealthofex-periencebasedadvice.

Ourexperiencecompelsustorelatehowinspirationandcreationcanandshoulddriveprojects.Inthedaily

operationsoforganisations,however,weseeagrowingaversiontoriskandanincreasedpreferencefortightcontrol.Thedemandforaccountabilitygrowsandleaveslittleroomforcreativity.Fearoffailureresultsincurtail-ingtheresponsibilitiesandpowerofprojectleaders;however,itisexactlynowthatempoweredleadership,commitmentandcreativityaresodesperatelyneeded.WiththeadoptionofPDC,inspirationreturnstoacentralpositioninprojectsandorganisations.Thisisespeciallyrelevantwhenweneedtoforgestafffromdifferentback-grounds,departmentsorevencountriesintoaneffective,multidisciplinaryteamcapableofbringingacomplextasktoasuccessfulend.

Asconsultants,trainers,andcoachesweworkonadailybasiswithprojectleaders,projectteams,theirsponsors,andlinemanagement,intheimplementationofPDC,trainingprograms,ProjectStart-Ups,projectevaluations,teamworkshops,andcoachingsessions.Weareparticularlygratefultoourclientsfortheoppor-tunitytoworkwiththemandlearnintheprocess.

SueLoewensteincontributedtoreworkingtheDutchmanuscriptintoaneditionforaninternationalaudience.BramVandenberge,thedesignwizard,foundawaytoturnour‘drytexts’intothebookyouarenowholding.Wehopethatthisisthebookyouhavesooftenrequest-ed.Weeagerlyawaityourreactions.

Jo Bos, Ernst Harting and Marlet Hesselink

6 7

Preface

130 131

21  international project teams

Ifyouthoughtworkingwitha‘nor-mal’projectteamischallenging,tryonethatconsistsofteammembersfromdifferentnational,culturalorethnicbackgrounds!Theseback-groundsprovideaunique‘program-mingofthemind’thatresultsinvastdifferencesinbehaviours,values,norms,preferences,andperceptionsof‘reality’.Thesedifferencescoverareasasdiverseas‘powerdistance’,therelationshipbetweentheindividualandsoci-ety,conceptsofmasculinityandfemininity,dealingwithconflictsanduncer-tainty,theimportanceofrulesorpersonalrelationships,howweregardtime,ourrelationshipwithnature,theexpressionofemotions,personalspace(bub-ble),etc.Culturalcuriosity,agenuinedesiretounderstandtheother’swayofthinkingandfeeling,andrespectingdifferencesisanabsolutelycriticalsuccessfactorforworkingwithmultinationalprojectteams.Theleadersoftheseteamsmustbeagileandflexibleinconstantlyswitchingbetweendifferentworldviews,needsandsensitivities.

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.

– Margaret Mead

Don’t confuse fluency in a language with communication. A perfect sentence in reply to what you just said is by no means synonymous with understanding what you actually meant to convey.

CAUTIONCultureThinkofawaterlily.Floatingonthesurfacearethe‘artifacts’;behavioursandstructuresthatwecansee,perhapsadmire,ordespise,butnoteasilyfullyunderstand.Belowthesurface,atthe‘stemlevel’,wefindthevalues,normsandgoals,whatweconsidertobegoodorbadandwhatisthereforeacceptable.Hiddenin

thedarkmudoftheunconsciousaretheimplicitassumptionsandtaken-for-grantedbeliefsabouttheworldandourselvesashumansinit.Theseassumptionslargelyruleourvisiblebehaviours.(Schein)Soifyouwanttounderstandyourforeigncolleague,you’llhavetodigalittledeeper.

Preferring one’s own (national/regional/ethnic) culture to that of someone else is fine. Considering it to be superior is not. This erodes mutual trust and respect and thus frustrates productive working relationships between team members.

CAUTION

TIP

Match team members’ strengths with their tasks. To illustrate, heaven is where the cooks are French, the police British, the mechanics German, the lovers Ital­ian, and everything is organised by the

Swiss. Hell is where the cooks are Brit­ish, the police German, the mechanics French, the lovers Swiss, and everything is organised by the Italians!

132 133inTErnaTional ProjECT TEams

Core QuadrantCulturaldifferencesoftenleadtosomelev-elofmutualincomprehension,tensionorconflict.Asimplebuteffectivetooltode-scribeandexplorethenatureandsourcesofthesetensionsistheCoreQuadrant(Of-man).Let’sbeginwithafundamentalqual-ityrecognisedinUS(business)culture,self-confidence.Understress,thisqualitymayturnintoapitfallwhereself-confi-dencedeterioratesintoinsensitivebehav-iour.Thechallengeistoturnitintoitsposi-tiveopposite,empathy;tryingtoseetheworldthroughtheeyesoftheotherperson.Overdoingthisinturnleadstoinsecurity,abehaviourtowhichourconfidentAmericanbusinesspersontendstobeallergic.Wetendtobeallergictothenegativeoppo-sitesofourcorequalities!Foreachnational(sub)cultureintheteam,anumberofthesecorequadrantsshouldbebeconstructed.

Itgetsevenmorecomplicated‘whenworldscollide.’ImaginethemergerbetweenaUSmanufacturingcom-panyandanR&DfirminBelgium,acountryknownforitsreserve.Rein-forcedbytheadditionalculturaldif-

ferencesfoundinmanufacturingandR&D,anunfortunatedynamiccoulddevelopbetweenanAmericanprojectmanagerandherBelgianteammem-bers.ThisisillustratedbyaDouble Quadrant:

TheBelgianprojectteamhashadabadweekandprojectshesitancyandinsecurity.Thistriggersanallergicre-actiononthepartoftheirnewUSprojectleaderwho,inresponse,showsherselflargelyinsensitivetotheirissues.ThisisnowinterpretedbyherBelgianteamasarrogance,towhichtheyinturnareallergic.Itdrivesthemevenfurtherintotheirinsecurity,

provoking…etc.Beforeyouknowit,allarelockedintoanunhappypatternofmutualmisunderstanding.Theviciouscyclewillonlybebrokenifallareawareofwhathashappenedandarewillingandabletofocusontheirre-spectivechallenges.Self-confidence,temperedbyempathy,tendstore-spondverywelltoreserveincombina-tionwithamodicumofassertiveness.

Insecurity

Assertiveness

Reserve

Arrogance

Belgium

+

–

–

+

Insensitivity

Empathy

Self-conficence

US

+

–

–

+

Insecurity

Insensitivity

Empathy

Self-conficence

Core Qaulity Pitfall

Allergy Challenge

Too muchof a good

thing

Positiveopposite

Positiveopposite

Too muchof a good

thing

+

–

–

+

Never assume your sense of humour is universally shared. It doesn’t easily transcend national borders.

CAUTION

134 135inTErnaTional ProjECT TEams

Virtual teamsAspecialchallengeisposedbyteamswhosemembersarebasedindifferentcountries.Herearetentipsthatapplytoanyteambutareparticularlyusefulundertheseconditions.

•All you need is love Aswithanyteam,trust,respect,humourandacertaineaseareprerequisitesfortopperformance.Thisismuchmoredifficulttoachieveatadis-tance.Createthebasisbyarran-gingforatleastoneface-to-faceteammeetingatthestartoftheproject.

•Be tech savvy Pulloutallthestops:videoconferencing,Skype,confe-rencecalls(ifnecessaryatmid-night),blogs,chats,Yammer,tweets,newsletters,adedicatedprojectwebsite;whateverittakesfortheteamtokeepintouch,andnotjustonprojectmattersbutalsoatapersonallevel.

•Culture rules Propagateateamatmospherecharacterisedbysha-redleadership,culturalsensitivity,mutualcollaboration,sharinginfor-mationfreely,andhonouringcom-mitments.

•No room for newbies Ingeneral,onlyprojectleaderswithatrackrecordwith‘normal’teamscanbetrustedwithavirtualteam.Veryexperiencedprojectleadersalsomustbecomfortablewith‘new’technology.

•Yes we can! Ifanything,thisteammustbedrivenbyasharedmis-sionanddedicationtocreatingaresulttheyallbelievein.Yetano-therreasontogetthemtogetherforaninspiring,‘live’ProjectStart-Up16 .

•¿Que? Nothinggoeswithoutsaying.You’llhavetoclarifymanyissuesrangingfromtheroleandresponsibilitiesoftheprojectleadertotheinterpretationofagreementsontheschedule.

•Open eyes and ears Bealerttosubtleindicatorsofstrifeorchangesinmoraleexpressedinmailmessa-ges,phoneconversations,etc.Respondpersonallyandquickly.

•The A-Team Whenselectingteammembers,focusoncompetencieslikeautonomy,networkingskills,emotionalintelligenceandculturalsensitivity.

•Cast your net wide Itpaystonur-tureyourrelationshipswiththelocalmanagersofyourteammem-bersabroad.Youmayneedtheirsupport.

•Ah, but next time… Projectevalua-tions(andnotjustattheend)areaprimetoolthatenablestheteamtolearnandimprovetheirperfor-mancenexttime‘round.

International stumbling blocks•Leadershipbehaviour

•Genderroles

•Theimportanceofpersonalrelationships

•Attitudestowardstimeandpunctuality

•Themeaningoftheword‘yes’

•Theroleandrulesofusinghumour(Lewis)

TIP

Never ignore, let alone try to eliminate, cultural diversity within the team. Instead, organise a dialogue around cul­tural differences. Guard against stereo­types and focus on the differences in

beliefs, values and norms with regard to work. Listening is key; try to understand the project from the position of the other person based on his or her cultural background.