Rockstar Managers

Every now and then we find managers who exude unconventional wisdom, unconventional approaches, and unconventional ways by which they manage teams, organizations, and projects. Amidst these novelle activities, we often find them excelling in doing pretty well as managers and receive adequate congratulatory remarks from his/her superiors. You might then be forced to ask how do they do it and what makes them capable of achieving what they have achieved.

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the world of the Rockstar Manager.

I am not really sure if there has been a term for this before, but I'd like to call it as such since it so defines these types of Managers. These managers display such qualities present in Rockstars that it is only fitting to use that term to describe them. These are the people who eventually become the Bill Gates and Steve Jobs of their organizations and are often their beloved prodigys.

So what's in these Rockstar Managers that make them so popular (and so darn good).

• Unique Persona - I don't want to use the word charm or charisma because its simply limiting the Rockstar image. A Rockstar Manager can either be charismatic or notorious or both at the same time. They have a certain presence that makes everyone know that they are there and that they need to be heard.
• Influence - What separates rock musicians from the real rockstars is their level of influence. Same goes for Rockstar Managers. You can have a unique persona but no influence and you end up being a nuisance. Influence is what gives the power to the image. Rockstar Managers know the who's who in the organization - and its not limited to the organizational structure. Rather, it also involves knowing the socio-political structure and bieng able to establish good relationships.
• Intelligence - Rockstar Managers are intelligent. They know what they are doing (even if it doesn't look that way). They have adequate knowledge of the work environment and the skills needed to survive in that environment. Just like the likes of Steve Vai or Joe Satrianni (if you don't know these folks - read up on your rock history), these are very intelligent people that make more than your average noise from rock music.
• Creativity - Rockstars are non-conformist by nature. And to be able to keep it that way, one has to have a certain level of creativity in him. This creativity helps bring out better ways of approaching projects, unique ideas and solutions, and a whole lot of "new" stuff that can only come from the creative minds of the Rockstar Managers.
• Risk Takers - Dare to be bold is the trademark of a real rockstar. Rockstar Managers are willing to take risks because this is the only way for them to know if what they think is right (or works). It just simply matches the persona of a unique and creative person.

And so to summarize the Rockstar Manager, he/she is a person that is willing to take risks for his/her creative ideas that he has carefully thought thru, and has the influence to make that happen and the unique persona to make it look good.

Yes, there are a couple out there that would fall under this category. Its a rare breed. I've seen a couple of unpolished gems our office. I hope to see them become Rockstar Managers someday.

Everything I know about Project Management, I learned from playing Poker

Well... this might not be exactly true... but it sounded real good. I want to thank my good online neighbor Meggy (http://thoughtsfromaficklemind.blogspot.com) for that idea. I just couldn't get over the fact that she actually had the different Poker combinations posted on her cubicle. Franco was probably the instigator of this.
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Ok, so here are some pretty nice ramblings on the similarities of Project Management work with Poker.

• "You play the hand that you are dealt." You will never always get a good hand at Poker (unless of course, you cheat). It's all in how you arrange your hand that matters. In the same way, a Project Manager will never always get the best project team. What matters is making the most out of your team. Get there strengths and use it to your advantage. Project teams are unique, and I can never recall being able to see the same hand in poker show up in another game.
• "Know when to check, call, raise, and fold". This is what separates real poker players from the plain so-called poker players. This is putting your hand in action. Different situations call for different responses. Project Managers have an assortment of possible responses to various areas of project management such as Risk Management (do i accept, transfer, mitigate, etc?), Communication Management (do i email, call, chat, etc?), and various other areas. It is therefore important to understand the possible outcome of each response to a project management area.
• "Read your opponent(s)". Having played Poker for quite some time now. I am starting to understand facial gestures, mannerisms, and non-verbal cues can truly give light to what the other poker players have. This helps me understand how to respond properly in order to win. In the same light, Project Managers should also be aware of situations that may affect the outcome of his/her Project. Reading your opponents is essentially performing Risk Management.
• "Learn to read a Bluff". Yes, bluffing is an integral part of Poker. Poker will never be Poker without this element in. After all, that's what started the term Poker Face. In the course of trying to read your opponents, there will be instances that you will be lead to believe certain conditions exists in your opponents hand that will cause you to do something less favorable (such as folding to a much lower hand). Project Managers should always learn to validate situations, conditions, and project statuses if they are what they are reported as. A validation activity/exercise by PM's always help in ensuring that the PM is always on top of the situation.
• "Learn to call a Bluff". A bluff is a way of getting what we want out of opponents. Yes, it is effectively lying - but its all part of the game. For Project Managers, this does not mean that you need to tell a lie. In fact, all this means is influencing people, events, etc. to achieve something that we want from that specific person/team. It does not incur (nor should it incur) lying. What it should have is a mechanism to go influence people positively.

Well, I hope that the next time you play Poker, you can now remember all the important stuff that I mentioned.

changes...

I feel unhappy
I feel so sad
I've lost the best friend
That I ever had...
...
I'm going through changes...
I'm going through changes...
-ozzy ozzborne

And so goes one of the few slow songs by the legendary frontman of Black Sabbath. Although things are not as gloomy and downtrodden as the song, more often than not, managers - project managers moreso - are faced with changes at a very regular basis. Changes that affect ones professional career both within projects and within the organization itself.

I've thought of putting out my two cents on this topic since we've just recently started off the company's fiscal year, and together with it several changes in both the organization and the way we do business as a whole. I for one moved into the so-called Project Management Office of our organization. And although it may seem like a good spot to be in... I would definitely miss out on all the action. Nothing feels better than being in-the-trenches together with your men and fighting the war.

This however, ain't about war. It's about change management.

Project Managers should very much be open to the fact that change is constant in any project. A Project that does not change is a project that is not moving. We should always expect change to happen in our projects. Changes that involve schedule, costs, scope, resources, location, risks, issues, and a whole lot of other things. This does not give managers the freedom to not do anything or not plan for anything since we are aware that things are bound to change anyways. The whole point here is to manage the change that will occur. That's why its called change management in the first place.

Some tips to remember when managing change

1. Each change is always caused by something. Change doesn't happen because it just did. An event, action, or decision can trigger a change. It is very important to identify what caused the change (or the need to change). It can be as simple as the resources not showing up to work for three straight days or as large as the stakeholder all of a sudden redirects the focus of the project.

2. Changes causes other things to change. In short, a change always has an impact. You can never add to the scope and expect that the end date won't move or that there is no need to add resources. There will always be an impact to the status quo no matter how small a change is.

3. Changes are not always a bad thing. Conversely, nor is it always a good thing. What's important is to understand the merits of the change and as a manager, decide on whether or not to pursue the change. More often than not, depending on the nature of the change, a select group of people (such as the customer) would need to approve of the change before it takes place.

4. Everyone must be aware of the change. This includes the scope of the change, when will this occur (or when did this occur), and how does this impact the individuals concerned.

5. Rebaseline. Once changes are approved. You should bear in mind that the new plan should now take into consideration the approved changes as it could impact the cost, schedule, and scope of the project.

Ciao.

Managing Up

I posted a blog around july 2008 specifically about how to manage your manager. I just recently came across the concept/buzzword of "Managing Up" which specifically talks about that in particular. In light of this, I encourage everyone to do some reading on this subject matter. I just grabbed a copy from the Harvard Business Press Pocket Mentoring series. It was a short read for me. Enough to cover a flight from Amsterdam to Copenhagen. I suggest you get bigger books on the subject matter as it is a very interesting topic that if practiced properly, indeed helps the project manager achieve his desired stakeholder reactions.