Imagine you’re a new Project Manager.

Imagine you’re a new Project Manager.
You’ve managed internal transformation projects but have now secured a role with a #Salesforce Partner.

And you’ve been handed a project that is in-flight as the previous PM has left.
😬

Project Managers don’t like taking over someone else’s project.
Nobody really likes to take over a piece of work they didn’t start themselves.

Reasons for this may include:

𝟭. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝗯
Perhaps they were ejected because they were “sub-par”.
EEK! What have I walked into?? 💩

𝟮. 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 ‘𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗳𝗳’
Assumptions, tacit knowledge and information about relationships, discussions and conversations that were not documented or recorded.

Context and nuance of the project environment and biosphere is lost.

𝟯. 𝗢𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲’𝘀 “𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀”
Everyone has their own processes and ways of working.
One person’s mess is another person’s internal filing and storage system. 🙄

I was coaching a new junior PM from a Partner who was given a particularly challenging project when the previous (contract) PM left.

She shadowed some of the consultants during requirements gathering and some calls with the client during that short handover period.

Bits and pieces of information about the project was scattered across
– project folders (with incomplete information)
– PM tool on Salesforce
– previous emails
– hours of recorded client calls

…none of which provided proper context and the full story.

#SalesforcePartners need to make sure there is
– proper Project Governance in place
– Onboarding process for new team members
– project documentation that is easily kept up to date with links and information

The last thing you want to do is to have your new PM or consultant digging into project folders or status reports or worst of all, user stories 😱 to…

Get. An. Idea. Of. What. The. Frog. We. Are. Building. Here!

So we talked about what could be done to make things easier moving forward, and some tips to ensure that the job isn’t too onerous for the PMs.

If you’re a Practice Manager or Head of Delivery, and you think you might need some ‘KonMari’ help on the Project Delivery side, slide me a DM.

I don’t know if I can help you discover bits of project documentation that ‘spark joy’ but I can certainly help make Delivery a less disorganised operational activity 😬

Let’s just keep the ‘joy sparking’ to naughty treats like 🍩🍩🍩

They certainly spark my joy!
😍😍

#OnThePeiroll
#ProjectManagement