Project managers wear a variety of hats on nearly every project they manage. Exactly what hats they wear usually depends on several things – the complexity of the project, the culture of the organization, how much authority the PM is given, and sometimes even how the customer wants the project manager to lead the project (important customers tend to have a lot of weight on some projects). I’ve asked around, started discussions in forums and social media, and the roles that seem to come up the most often in people’s minds are these four…so I’d like to discuss them here and get your feedback as well. The four that are often mentioned are:


The strong leader. This is probably an obvious one, but remember what a PM must do as a leader. They must lead individuals for whom they do not have direct responsibility. They must lead a customer they don’t know that much about…yet. They must listen well, speak well, encourage often, agree, disagree, make on the spot decisions often without enough information, and they must do all of this while taking on full responsibility for a project where many things will happen – both good and bad - that they likely can’t control. It’s a tough leadership position to take on.


The ‘no’ person. The ability to say ‘no’ – to the customer who is off base in their notion of what they need and what the project should be, to the team member who disagrees with the path the project is on, to executive management who may be taking an action that is negatively affecting the project – is critical to the role of project manager. Agreeing is easier, but the project manager must be stubborn – must be willing to stick to their decisions and stay focused on the success of the project. It isn’t about making friends, it’s about doing what is right for the success of the engagement overall.


The expert communicator. I will never sway from my stance that the key role of the project manager is that of effective and efficient communicator. If the PM fails in this role, there is very little hope for the project to succeed. All project communication happens with the project manager – it all needs to go through this one position. And if it doesn’t – if critical communication routinely circumvents the process and goes around the PM - then the project is likely headed for disaster.


The PM is the central point for project status, project meetings, emails, revised schedules, issues tracking, risk tracking, and budget management. And if the project manager is a poor communicator, then even if all communication flows through the PM it may not be utilized properly and miscommunication and erroneous and dangerous decision-making can be the result.


The change agent. By definition a project is change. It is a one-off effort to introduce a new solution or revise a process within an organization. The project manager is delivering change with every project he manages. The project manager is the change agent and sometimes has to work hard to knock down barriers to change within an organization. They must work well with others inside the business or with the client to make that change happen and to help that change to be accepted.


Summary


That’s four….there are many many more hats that we wear as project managers…I just can’t list them all here. How about you – what key roles stand out to you as ones that the project manager must regularly fill in their leadership role within the organization?

As project managers and project teams go home to work this month in the face of the COVID-19 coronavirus, we need to look for the best way to manage our projects remotely and manage virtual teams. Communication is even more critical as is collaboration and task management. Does your project software that you offer or that you use do a great job on features that a remote project manager would need to be successful? If so, I want to hear from you asap. Please contact me at http://www.bradegeland.com/contact or email me and tell me why. Let's discuss...

In the wake of millions of workers going home to work from small startups to giants like Facebook, Microsoft and now Twitter there is a whole new landscape in the project workforce to service.


Does your project software do collaboration well to keep remote teams and stakeholders in touch? Does it have nice dashboards to keep everyone on the same page? Other features to make the remote project manager more successful? Can virtual project teams and departments or entire organizations stay more connected and productive because of something your project management related software has to offer? Then let’s tell the world right now as big corporations are sending their projects, teams and employees home to work this week and possibly for months in the face of the coronavirus' global spread. 


This movement and reaction now is likely to change teams forever with more remote project managers and virtual teams handling projects. Let me help you be a leader in that growing market niche.


Just to clarify my angle on the coronavirus and remote work. I see it as the new norm even after this unfortunate pandemic passes. Many of these workers are going to want to keep working from home and many previously skeptical companies are going to see the benefits. So, the early bird gets the worm basically. What you can do for projects and teams in this crisis you can do for them when this becomes a somewhat normal transition for organizations when they see the productivity increases. Let me help you rise above your competition in letting PMs, PMO Directors and CEOs know what you can do for them while they are currently overwhelmed and looking for a way to win. 


Please respond and let’s discuss. You can use either my contact form or email me to discuss. I can start helping you gain that niche or increase your standing in that niche.

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At every organization in the civilized world right now there is someone there trying to figure out how best to present their case to their manager on why they should be allowed to work from a home office. This scenario won't work for everyone. There are positions that just plain won't work for the remote working model...though they slip my mind at the moment.


If you think it will work for you and you just need some good arguments to take to management to possibly make this happen, then consider the following...


Pandemic reaction (ie. Coronavirus, Influenza, other communicable diseases). Right now we are in the middle of a pandemic – the Coronavirus. Big companies – like Facebook, Microsoft and others are cutting their liability concerns and telling employees to start working from home. It makes sense, but not everyone can do it and you need to ensure your organization has processes in place to handle remote and virtual teams and the critical communication that must happen between and with remote employees to keep everyone working on the same page.


Most or all of my project team members are remote or not co-located. It always helps to have a history here. Have you managed any projects in the past two years where several project team members or a majority of your team was co-located with you in the same office? If so, your argument will begin to lose air. But if you have rarely – if ever – managed a project with any or even more than one or two team members were physically located where you are, then you should have a good argument for taking your project management skills to an offsite home office. Especially if you have a great track record of organized, successful project management experience and high customer experience ratings that you can show (possibly in the form of some lessons learned session notes on past projects or at least a lack of any customer complaints).


I'll take a pay cut. I know this may sound ridiculous, but if working remotely is important to you and you consider it a life-style upgrade or quality of life upgrade (which I firmly believe that it often is...it was for me), then looking at the pay differential option may work. Work through all of your costs directly associated with sitting at a desk at the company headquarters. For now, let's just consider transportation and transport time (and for purposes of this example I'll work with $90,000/year for base pay and a 30 minute drive to and from work each day using 1 gallon of gas each way):


30 minute drive to work = gas and car wear and tear and 1 hour roundtrip of your time = $5 gas and vehicle usage per day + $45/day of your time = $50/day = $13,000/year (assuming 260 work days). That's just travel time. Without taking into account any wardrobe changes and possibly eliminating a vehicle from your family's driveway meaning no insurance and licensing on that extra vehicle. But we must also consider that those items might be replaced by a higher usage of energy at your own house with you in it all day so that could be a wash. What you could do is offer a $6,000/year pay cut (about half the savings on transportation and transport time) to go remote and see how that works.


Work less, do more. This one probably needs to stay just with you because if you present it then you're employer may try to overwork you. But you likely will be able to get more done quickly from a good home office situation or even your local Starbucks (which I have found to be my absolute most productive work location). Why? Because you don't have the frequent interruptions from co-workers. Water cooler discussions are very much overrated. They often are more about backyard barbecues and gossip than real work discussions and decision making. You will likely find that you can get done in 30 hours what it took you 40 hours or more to do at the office.


My work time can be more flexible. This is a great argument if you are managing projects using project team members or interacting with project clients in timezones that are far different from yours. If you don't mind offering to be available for 11pm or 5am client calls, then this is a big plus for your argument (unless you are already expected to do this anyway). Document your argument and your regular client needs. This one also helps you argue for putting together the most accurate project status info as you can make a case for doing it the night before an important client status call after you've touched base with your project team members.


Freeing up space and resources at headquarters. This one won't be a front line argument most of the time, but there are those instances when a growing company is bulging at the seams and needs every bit of floor space. That actually was the case at one of my employers but I was already working remotely. If it works for your scenario, use it.


Summary / call for input


If you want to take your work remote, then try these arguments out on your boss. The worst he can say is “no” or “I'll consider it.” But each of these make good business sense and if you're a great employee, he should want to at least consider your interests. Good luck!


How about our readers? Have you ever tried to make these arguments with your organization? What was the result? What other points would you add to this discussion to help tip the scales.

With an outbreak of this new virus affecting teams and projects worldwide, employers are cutting their liabilities and sending workers home... often to continue their work remotely. Not everyone is ready for this and managing entire teams and project teams can be tricky. Here are three key tips to maintaining productivity and effective management of those teams as we try to keep businesses and projects moving forward even though we can be working together face to face.


I realize that managing remote project and development resources that you can't see and reach out to face to face immediately is not for everyone. Some project managers just need the ability to grab someone and bring them into an office for a meeting. But if you are experienced managing projects remotely than you may be more prepared than others to handle these types of resources successfully. It takes an organized project manager, as well as one who is a good communicator and an effective meeting facilitator.


If you're embarking on one or more projects that involve the management of geographically dispersed project team resources or the use of an offshore team of developers, then you've come to the right place for some info and discussion. Here I will present three key tips for the effective management of remote team resources and as you read these please be thinking about comments, questions and your own tips and experiences to share.


Here are my three tips...


Act like everyone is in the same time zone. A key to consistent communication on the project as well as insuring everyone's sanity is to conduct business as if everyone is in the same timezone. Figuring out who's timezone that is going to be or perhaps meet somewhere in the middle if you happen to differ by, say 9 hours. I've been there and that one is not fun or easy for anyone.


Require a regular status report. Require every key player to produce a weekly status report. As the project manager, come up with a baseline format that you want everyone to follow - and make it something that will be easy for all to follow and make it easily transferable to whatever formal weekly status report format that you need to produce for the project customer and other key project stakeholders.


Have one key communication point of contact. For the remote team - if they are co-locate like in the case of using an offshore development team - appoint a primary point of contact. This makes it easier when crossing several timezones and you can even have this individual act in a lead role to produce one status report for the entire offshore team.


Summary / call for input


The bottom line is this...treat your distributed team like any other team. Whether its a col-located team elsewhere...like an offshore group you're working with...or if you have a completely geographically dispersed team where maybe no two individuals are in the same spot, it isn't rocket science. I've successfully managed both on project engagements - it just takes planning and patients but the benefits can be huge). You save cost, you get the best resources now because no one will turn you down due to not wanting to relocate and often you don't need to worry about benefits. It's win-win if you interview them and make sure you've got good, experienced, and reliable resources. If you're going offshore, look to someone you can get a reference from. Most are very good and very reliable...some aren't...but if you're experienced and can find a reliable reference, you should be successful.


How about our readers? What would your advice and key tips be for managing remote project teams and offshore development resources? What do you agree with on my list or disagree with and why? Let's discuss.t.

In the wake of the massive coronavirus counts and seeing Facebook, Microsoft, and many others send workers home to be safe and work remotely, it seems very timely to discuss why remote work, managing projects remotely and managing virtual teams work. At least in the short term in the face of this near or real pandemic it's going to be the new normal, so we might as well understand it's benefits and get it right.

Are you a project manager who needs to pitch the concept of remote project management to your PMO director? Or are you a PMO director of CIO or corporate exec building your project management model and you need to pitch the virtual project management team model to your CEO or the rest of your leadership team?  I’m sure there are many resources out there that tell you why remote project management is a good idea or why virtual project teams work.  Hint…if you read the phrase carbon footprint in the article anywhere run away…it’s likely outdated.  I’m not saying you want save resources and a few trees and percentages of the ozone layer by going remote, but the term carbon footprint has almost a “disco” ring to it….so avoid that as part of the argument.

Here are a few arguments that can be made for remote project management from my perspective as I’ve been doing it successfully for most of the past 12 years or so…

You have access to the best talent in the world.  This is more of an argument for the entire virtual team, not just remote project management.  But that’s most of the model I know…since I’ve been working with a very geographically dispersed project team model for most or all of those 12 years.  Utilizing talented development resources working offshore allows you to get the best of the best without the cost to relocate them (and usually they would not want to relocate so this is the only way you can get them on your staff or on your projects).  About the only negative is the issue with timezone differences, but most are happy to work with you on your timezone – or in the case of an entire team of developers – have one designated contact that will be available during your hours.  And, as for me, I’m happy to work odd hours so I’ve commonly been on Skype calls at 11pm or 3am…whatever the need is.

Your profit margin increases and you can win more projects.  By utilizing offshore development teams, you can obtain entire offshore teams that are co-located to work on your projects and usually at a fraction of the cost of local resources.  This model increases your project profit margins and allowing you to bid lower and win more projects than your competition.

Project managers are freed up for real work when it’s needed.  In 12 years of remote PM work, I’ve rarely had a situation where I said to myself, “this would be better if I could drive to an office somewhere.”  In fact, there has only been one project in the past 12 years where more than half of my project team was local to me.  For that project, I did spend some time in the office, but it really wasn’t necessary.  By having fairly flexible hours, I’m happy to work very early or even the middle of the night to connect with a tech lead in, say, India, and put together a status report at 10pm that contains the most up to date information possible for the next day’s weekly status call with the project client.  Without being tied to a 90 or 120 minute round trip commute and 8 hours in the office, it’s a pleasure to do the work that I know needs to be done and do it at the best time to get it done.

The overall cost savings and productivity can be high.  This, of course, depends on the organization, but remote/virtual teams – from my experience – have been more productive, cost less money due to more efficient meetings, less travel and high use of electronic communication, and the ability to connect with the client whenever necessary by someone key to the team.  The customer isn’t co-located, so why should the team be?  But we are ready, willing and able to support that customer literally on a moment’s notice and can do so for very little cost with the remote/virtual model.

Summary / call for input

I realize this is mostly my opinion, but it has worked for many years and continues to work in all the remote and consulting work that I currently perform.  Sure, there are interruptions at home, but no one seems too offended if I get up and move away from any commotion to a quieter place.  When I was working 9-5 in an office – with a nice big office – it seems that I constantly had staff that would come in, discuss an issue and then stay for three times longer than was needed.  My office was like their sanctuary, but it made me less productive for it.  I don’t miss it…at all.  And the water cooler discussions?  Same thing…mostly they are not about productive work-related issues, they are about the stuff everyone did last weekend or what they plan to do next weekend.
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How about our readers?  What are your experiences and opinions on virtual teams, remote project management and the productivity of it?  Cost effective or a problem?  And if you’re a professional services organization utilizing remote talent, tell us why it’s a good option.  Please share your thoughts and let’s discuss…

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