Tag Archives: Trust

You Will Do Well When You Do Good

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(This article was first published in the Critical Path, the monthly newsletter of PMI Sydney Chapter publish in June 2022)

The aim of my ‘Beyond Project Management’ corner is to expand the circle of concern of project managers beyond the traditional scope, quality, cost and time constraints.  There is no doubt that these constraints are important and necessary to have successful projects, but they are not enough.  There are other factors and considerations that influence the real success of projects.

When I train aspiring project managers, I always remind them that while it is important to deliver successful projects as perceived by their sponsor or influential users, however, no matter how successful the outcome is, it is not really successful if you complete the project and leave behind a ‘trail of blood’.  It is the obligation (rather than the responsibility) of you, as the project manager, to ensure that you don’t deliver a successful project at “any” cost; but deliver a successful project at the “right” cost.  Your success scorecard should include, in addition to the standard triple constraints, a measurement of your team’s happiness when you complete the project, as well as how much your project has increased your organisation’s ESG score: the Environmental, Social, and Governance score.  In other words, you can measure how well you have done by including a measurement of how much good you have done.

Project Managers, as influential champions of change in their organisations, should include Environmental Management in their project management activities among other things.  Environmental management is not just about the ‘trees and bees’ but also about health, safety, profits, quality assurance, reduced risks to reputation, and increased global competitiveness.  Neglecting environmental costs could lead to several undesirable consequences which will jeopardise the original objectives of the project.  Underestimating the environmental impact of the project will increase the risk of bad reputation which might turn out to be more costly for the project.  Policies, guidelines, and plans merely show the way how to practice good environmental management.  It is ultimately the actions taken by the project manager that matters the most when it comes to environmental sustainability.

With the increased autonomy given to project managers over the what and the how of project delivery, it is important for them to hone the skills of environmental management.  They should develop a deep understanding of environmental issues and understand what protections and preventive measures are necessary for their project.  Such environmental duties include conducting research necessary to the environmental impact of the project, communicating with environmental agencies on relevant risks or issues identified by the project, and ensuring continued compliance with environmental procedures throughout the project activities.  Project managers should use their influence to make project changes based on environmental data.  They can do this by showing that they are focused on optimising business value and enhancing the organisation’s ESG score.  Organisations with higher ESG score are more attractive to do business with, and easier to attract and retain quality employees, which will lead to an enhanced reputation; all things that organisations want for themselves. 

In addition to continually considering environmental concerns in their risk management activities, project managers need to look beyond the normal procurement processes to see if there are any environmental considerations.  Project managers can and should question how raw material (if any) is sourced and procured, what is the waste from using such material, and what happens to the material when the project is completed.  They can also include a criterion in supplier selection on the supplier’s environmental profile.  

A single project manager may not influence the organisation’s ESG policy, but collectively, project managers can make a difference and add value.  Project managers can influence senior leaders.  They are instrumental in achieving strategic goals because they hold the path to execution.  Project managers are conveniently placed to do good and make a difference.  Just do it.

To Trust or Not To Trust – That’s Leadership

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In my early days of ‘professional’ project management of IT solutions, I was running a data migration project when I was also assigned to a new Business Group to lead a team supporting an existing in-house-built solution.  After few days of the assignment, I was going out for a coffee with my new boss, the Business Group Manager.  As we were stepping into the coffee shop he suddenly asked me: “How much time you’re going to spend on your data migration project before you can move completely to my group?”  I said: “I still need around 3 months, spending up to half of my time in that project”.  I said that and started thinking of justification of my off-the-air guesstimate as I expected a series of “why and how” questions.  My new manager completely surprised me when he responded with one word: “Cool”.  Then he continued explaining to me his expectations of what I will be doing as part of his Group.  My new boss never asked me about how much time I am giving to my new role again, and I completed the data migration project in a bit less than 3 months.

Some many years later in another company, I was in a meeting with a Manager who, at the time, I was working with him for more than a year.  I presented a concise document of 2 pages as a description of a potential solution requested by a business group.  After his initial judgement of the poorness of the document based on its length, the Manager threw a series of questions –interjected with satirical comments- on how this document was developed.  I explained that this document is a description of rather a straightforward solution, compiled out of long documents and some meetings with the potential users of the solution.  I was taken by complete surprise when the Manager asked me, with a hint of mis-trust, “can I see these original documents, now!”  I left the meeting, printed 40+ pages of different documents and brought them back, only for the Manager to take a 10-seconds look at them (poor trees).  Unfortunately, I left this company and the poor project was still looping in its very early stage trying hard to set free out of the ‘excessive multi-cook syndrome’.

I remembered these two situations as I was going through the book “Smart Trust” by Stephen M.R. Covey, Greg Link and Rebecca R. Merrill.  The authors stated that “trust has become the new currency of the global economy.  It is the basis on which many people do business – or don’t” (page 13).  The authors beautifully explained that when trust goes down in a relationship or an organisation, speed goes down and cost goes up.  I was amused by this straightforward explanation.  They clarified to me in layman’s terms why things were going fast and effective in the company of the first story above, and why they were the opposite in the second.

Trust is an important lubricant to run organisations smoothly.  Trust inhibits the fear of failure and encourages creativity and collaboration among all workers.  The minute that you start asking about each and every detail, (micro-management!) innovation flies away.  As soon as you hint to your team that you don’t trust them enough, you start losing their initiative, they will rarely try new things, tasks will take longer and become more costly, and you’ll start hearing phrases like “if you want to get along, you’d better go along.”

As for the two Managers in the stories above, they showed me in a practical way some important differences between managers and leaders.  For that, I do thank them both a lot, trust me.