What Is Social Project Management?

Is social just a fad or here to stay? And what does it have to do with projects…
As with all new terminology, whether catch-phrase or otherwise, the concept behind the wording needs to be defined and understood before it’s possible to engage in a real, meaningful dialogue about it. That’s why we tend to see the same trend with every innovation. New ideas, perhaps not yet well-articulated, generate some early discussions. Those initial discussions begin propagating a term or phrase that represents the innovation. This drives curiosity, which drives more discussion and often the repetition of the new terminology, regardless of how well it’s defined or understood. Generally the broader discussion begins to peak with some back-and-forth debate of the meaning behind the words, before eventually reaching a consensus (on either a common definition, or another new terminology).

This is what I’ve found to be the case with the phrase “social project management”. Many bloggers and subject matter experts have a tendency to define the concept solely in terms of the project management software or tools that support it, stateless of any actual business leadership, processes, or approach. Others attempt to define it within the context of consumer social media communications, giving the impression that socializing project management is the equivalent of opening up internal business initiatives to some sort of crowdsourced public input.

The phrase social project management has, to my knowledge, only existed for the past few years. And it most certainly erupted from the roots of web 2.0 software and technology enablers. However, proponents of social project management (myself included) see it as a methodological shift within the project management discipline. From that perspective, social project management takes on a new conceptual definition.

Traditional (historical?) project management embraces a militant-like paradigm. Central command and control processes, driven from the top and dictated to the project resources below. All of whom are stratified on a hierarchical project organizational chart in tidy little boxes, clearly delineating not only who reports to whom, but by extension of the environment, who has the most access to the most information. As with all authoritarian structures, a traditionally managed project requires significant rigor, strict communication channels, and complex processes and bureaucracy, which by necessity, require significant overhead administration.

Enter social project management. Emerging from early implementations of Project Management 2.0, Social Project Management, as an approach, is characterized by the democratization of the project environment. Instead of managing and controlling, the project manager takes on an the important, but less bureaucratic, role of project leader. Social PMs advocate open communications among project participants over formalized communications through pre-defined channels. Social projects stress and promote collaboration as a de facto work paradigm, interacting proactively to support overreaching project goals and outcomes. Information flows freely and frequently on a social project, with consumption limited only by availability.
Unlike Project Management 2.0, Social Project Management is implemented at an organizational level, extending collaboration and communication channels across all projects, to prevent information silos and take advantage of the concept of ambient awareness (more on this in a future article).

Early project management 2.0 software misunderstood the power of collective collaboration, and often implemented the “collaboration” tools at an individual project level. Which, I suppose, works well within organizations that never have a resource involved in more than one project at a time. For the rest us, it was largely useless and often drove us back to our ineffective but learned behaviours - communicating via email, voicemail, meetings, or not at all. The other challenge that tripped up PM 2.0 was the tendency to offer collaboration capabilities only, in lieu of any project management support tools. Here’s an activity stream, or wiki, or document storage space and that’s your project software. Even small projects need guidance, scheduling, and oversight. Have you ever set a personal goal without figuring out the steps you need to achieve along the way to reach that goal? Doesn’t work very well.

So what is social project management? It’s the amalgamation of tried and true project management techniques like schedule management, milestone setting, task dependencies, and issue and risk analysis, but applied within a collaborative and democratized project environment. Social project management empowers teams and wraps them with these techniques, providing true visibility and distributed ownership and investment among all project participants, regardless of role.

Essential Project Management

If you get in a car in Chicago with the intent of driving to Los Angeles, the GPS rarely plots the California portion of the map while you are in your driveway. Rather, the GPS methodically and sequentially plots each road to take in order to reach the desired location. Project Management follows the same logic of a series of key tasks or steps that have to be completed in a systematic process in order to meet the desired outcome. Traveling to Los Angeles from Chicago can only happen if the tasks of traveling through the Midwest and the Rockies are met first.

This type of thinking seems elusive when it comes to business project management. Ask someone to “map” out the many steps required to achieve a desired result of managing a project and many times you get resistance as in “overkill” or simply a “deer in the headlights” look. Yet, the dollars at stake as well as the operational disruption to the organization seem secondary to the tedious task of mapping the process in advance. No one would jump in a car and start driving without a map nor should they start a project without a plan.

Lacking a plan almost assuredly locks in failure as much as putting the wrong project manager in place. There is a specific skill set that is required from project managers that enables them to manage to an on-time, on-budget conclusion. It is critical for the organization to identify those key people to lead projects or as an alternative, outsource to industry experts.

Below highlights the key components of project management:
On-Time, On-Budget: This should be the mantra of every project manager There should be nothing more fundamental in the mind of the project manager than completing the project on-time and on-budget. All too often, project managers view their projects in a vacuum but rarely are these tasks within an organization, mutually exclusive. Failing to comply with an on-time, on-budget philosophy not only causes the project at hand to fail, but risks the failure of other reliant projects.

Know End Game: Determine in advance, what a successful project conclusion looks like. The most successful projects have a clear vision in mind from the onset. Poorly managed projects fall victim to duplicative resource allocation and cost overruns known as “capital creep”. Capital creep can be crippling to an organization since it not only “sucks away” future dollars to be invested back into the company, but layers on added expense that diminishes the overall return of the project
.
Resource Management: Let the fighting begin! Project management is all about organizing systems and processes in a sequential fashion in order to efficiently complete the task at hand. Implicit in that mindset are identifying key resources that are necessary to knock out the work. The challenge is, resources are finite and competent people are always in demand. There can be some intense competition for solid resources - overallocation of their time is an ongoing concern.

Practice “War Gaming”: Imagine if you could anticipate issues in advance of them happening - that is what “war gaming” is. Play out possible scenarios and anticipate “broken pipes” in advance of them actually happening. Scheduling a resource for a task to be completed only to find out that they are going on vacation is an avoidable “broken pipe”. By lying out as many steps as you can against a time line, a project manager should be able to recognize obvious “hiccups” to the process in advance and devise alternative solutions.

Be Realistic: Rome was not built in a day and your project will not be either. Setting realistic goals not only for the project but especially for the approving committee, is paramount to managing expectations. The project cannot be built for free nor can it be completed in an afternoon. Realistic goals and time tables need to be continually communicated and are crucial to the overall perception of the project. It is vital to manage the expectations all along the way.

Daily Business Impact: The challenge managing new projects for an organization is that they still have a day-to-day business to run. Rarely do they have an idle body to be able to manage a project exclusively. Prudent organizations are the ones that identify this in advance and either outsource the management of the project or re-adjust internal teams to minimize disruptions to daily operations. Organizations that fail to recognize this impact will not only see their project fall short of expectations, but run the risk of their daily operations slipping.

Deliver The Goods: At the end of the day, the project manager has a fairly clear-cut task at hand: Deliver a completed project, on-time and on-budget. Managing the project can be fraught with missed tasks and time challenges but the prudent project manager will attempt to minimize those to exceptions only. Leaving the entire project to chance will guarantee only one thing - a failed project. Prudent capital management is one key element to maintaining your operation ongoing profit stream.

SWOT Analysis in Project Management

SWOT is an acronym of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats and as these titles suggest it is not purely a method used for controlling areas of planning and risk but it is also used to highlight areas of the project that could be maximized to the benefit of the whole project or individual areas where some competitive advantage may be gained. It is used to evaluate particular activities of the project in order to optimize their potential as well as to evaluate risks in order to determine the most appropriate way of mitigating those risks.
SWOT analysis is normally performed during the initial project start-up phase so that the elements of the analysis can form the basis of the project plan, but it can also be used later in the project if the project is running into difficulties with scheduling, deliverables or budget and needs to be brought back on track.
For example, if a certain key activity in the project requires new software, a SWOT Analysis can be used to assess the risks and the opportunities of purchasing the software and training staff in its use in order to help with the resource planning.
Performing a SWOT Analysis

A SWOT analysis session should always have a clear objective and it is the Project Manager’s responsibility to communicate that objective to all those present at the session. A typical session will include all stakeholders, where possible, and key members of the project team. If the analysis is being performed at the start of a project, the objective is likely to be fully identifying all required activities and potential risks so that a proper plan can be put in place. However, if it is being conducted during an ongoing project, the objective may be to re-assess the budget or schedule.
Because the objectives of a SWOT Analysis can vary so too can the questions used to elicit the required information. For this reason there is not a standard set of pre-defined questions that will meet every situation but every session must have a set of questions written down before the session to ensure the attendees remained focused. This, again, is the project manager’s responsibility. Depending on the urgency of completing the analysis and starting the project planning phase, it may be necessary to send out the questions in advance to allow attendees the opportunity of gathering any relevant information in advance.
Typical questions for each part of the SWOT Analysis are listed below:
Strengths
Does the company have the necessary skills in-house?
Has a budget been assigned to the project?
What are the business benefits of completing the project?
Will the project require new technology or equipment?
How experienced is the project team on similar projects?
Weaknesses
Is there a reliable estimate of costs available?
Does the company have the budget to provide contingency funding?
What are the drawbacks of the project?
Will parts of the project need to be outsourced?
Is the proposed schedule realistic?
Opportunities
Can a local project be leveraged nationally or internationally?
Do the competitors have any weaknesses?
What are the latest industry trends?
Are there any new, or imminent, technology developments?
Threats
Is there well-established competition already in the marketplace?
Are experienced staff difficult to replace?
Has new technology been fully tested?
Could national or global economic conditions affect the project?
The list of questions to use in a SWOT analysis could, obviously, be much longer than the basic questions listed above, but using these in your own particular project will provide a good starting point. Performing a thorough SWOT analysis at the beginning, or any stage, of a project will provide you with detailed information to help you in the planning and decision-making processes of a project.

Integrity in Project Management

As Project Managers, we encounter opportunities around every corner to be men and women of integrity. Depending on your organization and/or the project you are working on, you may have a tremendous amount of authority and latitude to make decisions…which idea to use, which vendor to leverage, how to present the data and so on. While this article is not a ‘how-to’ (creating a WBS) or a emotional take on some leadership technique (conflict management), it is one article that I feel every project manager, leader….well everyone, should read and reflect on whether or not they are leading with integrity.
In recent years, one of two things have happened within organizations. Either the competition has become so fierce in the face of pending resource actions or the resource action has already occurred and the workload being pushed on you is insane. Even more so in the PM space is that many of you are being thrown into Project Management without any training, mentoring, etc. So you are taking on a role without the skills/training.

Whether you are a seasoned PM in a thriving company with carte blanche or an overworked Office Manager taking on your first project, you will be faced with choices. Do you award business to your old supervisor who is at Vendor X? Do you adjust the dates in hopes that the team will pull it together and no one will have to know you are two weeks behind? Or do you present an idea as your own in that Executive Meeting, when you know John in Accounting came up with it.

At the end of the day, you just need to make sure you are full of it…Integrity that is.
Here are 3 guidelines for Success:
1.Get ahead of it - If a job is offered to you and you have no idea what it is they do, how they do it, or what a single acronym means then you have got to let the hiring manager/current manager/partner know. You may be surprised at their response. “John, thank you so much for letting me. The last 2 folks said they could and wasted weeks of my time. What do you say I have you go to that local boot camp for 2 weeks and train you. I can’t teach integrity, but I can train you on our business”. I had an old company participate in an RFQ to become one of our national providers and told the team right up front “Everyone, I want you to know that I worked at Company X for 3 years”. No one seemed to care because I was up front. The Director of Procurement said “had you not told me, it would have been a mess even if you were fair. Thank you!”
2.Be Organized – Many of my articles refer to the importance of planning and being organized. When you drop the ball, you create an atmosphere where you need to get ‘creative’ on the schedule or the budget. However, if you have planned it out and remained organized, then you won’t feel so much pressure when things go wrong. There won’t be a need to cover up sloppy work. Things happen: requirements change, new stakeholders rotate through the organization, etc… If you are organized and can show the work, then there is no reason to be sneaky or to cover anyone’s tracks.
3.Be a man! (or Woman) – Don’t try and put lipstick on a pig. If the schedule blew up or your budget just tripled, then get in front of your executive team or sponsor and explain 1) What was expected 2) What happened 3) What is the action plan to correct. You may not even need the answer at that point.
You may get away with the occasional “get ‘er done’ attitude or sweep it under the rug approach, but your career is a long one and this is a small world. If you aren’t a person with integrity, then I can’t tell you that you will meet your maker or sleep better at night because it just doesn’t register with you. However, here are a few things that can, do, and probably will happen at one point or another. That team member who helped you cover that overspend 5 years ago, may become the next CFO and will remember the ‘Slick PM’. The idea you stole from John…someone may reach out to him one day “Hey John. You worked with Slick PM a few years back. I am thinking about bringing him into my department for Larry’s old job. What do you think?” How about that interview you go a few years down the road and the same hiring manager you told that you could do the last job is now at this company?

Ethics in Project Management

Below is a list of some commonly known ethics in Project Management. Project Managers should abide to this list at all times.
Treat the money like it’s your own. If you make financial decisions as if it were your own money you’ll always make the best decisions for your client.
Care for your community. Your project affects a diverse range of stakeholders. Know who they are and how you’ll change their lives. Know how you’ll explain your project to your families and friends.
Account for the full product life cycle. Today’s new product is tomorrow’s landfill. Understand the true cost of ownership by full lifecycle costing, from sourcing materials to disposal.
Do the best you can first time around. When you turn up for work, remind yourself that you are there to do the best job you can. Be proactive, be creative, and be efficient.
Deal fairly with your suppliers. If you can’t deal fairly and openly with them during the project phase of the product, what chance does the client have of working with them during the operations phase?
Honesty all the time. Never lie by omission, never lie by vagueness, never lie by delaying, never lie by clutter, never lie by jargon: just never lie.
Help others along. Projects are not just delivered by teams. They are delivered by communities, workforces, and professions. You have a place in these groups; there is always someone to learn from and someone to help along. Share what you know and receive help when you need it.
The golden rule. Don’t just treat others how you want to be treated, treat them how they want to be treated.