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.
-----
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.

Project Management in 2 simple sentences

Divine Sentence # 1.

Project Managers manage people, manage process, and monitors products.

Divine Sentence #2.

People use the Process to create the Products.

By using these two sentences, you would have a better grasp of what project management is really all about. This is a very good illustration for noob PM's who more often than not fall under the trap of micromanaging their staff and their deliverables. It is not the job of the PM to do that. It's the teams job. A PM should only manage (i.e. provide direction, guidance, and support) to his people as well as manage the process (i.e. ensure that the process used to create the products or services are followed accordingly). He should ONLY monitor the products or services being performed and not be part of its development. He is an indirect cost to the project.

It's as simple as that.

What's a Project Managers Job?

I have been asked this question countless times by countless number of people. Some out of inquisitiveness, others out of desperation for their newfound career.

I have also been at the querying end of this question, initially trying to answer it myself, and eventually seeking out people who had the same answer as I did.

Being one of the more "senior" guys around, I usually get the typical on-time on-budget with quality BS from the "juniors".

"Yeah right." I tell them, whilst sipping my morning coffee.

Whereas being on-time, on-budget, and all that jazz may sound good and PMistic. I for one narrow the whole thing down to two words.

MANAGE EXPECTATIONS.

To me, that's more than enough to fill a PM for life. Everyone involved in a project has got an expectation of some sort. Being in the middle of it all, one has to know how to balance each person's need with everybody elses. This includes knowing who to prioritize and how to tell a customer that his project is late and/or overbudget. This includes telling your team that they have to work overtime since there was a delay in the raw materials, etc. And in doing all these and more, everybody has got to be happy. Weird right? But that's the job we signed up for.

So, having said that, what's the one skill needed by all Project Managers?

Communication.

If a PM, cannot communicate, he cannot be a PM at all. It's that simple. I have yet to meet a good PM that cannot communicate well. It's near the word impossible and one-in-a-million. You cannot manage anyone's expectations if you cannot communicate. Note that communication is not all verbal. A lot of this involves body language, gesticulation, tone, et al. If a PM cannot get the message across, he cannot set the expectations.

It's as simple as that.

And if this wasn't clear - then maybe I need to start switching jobs too.

The Art and Science of Project Management

[reposted from my yahoo 360 blog 12/6/05]

More often than not, people consider Project Management as either one or the other. The truth is, Project Management is a combination of both. The tendency for you to sway on one side defines how you approach Project Management.

From an Artistic perspective, Project Management involves the ability to deal with people, influencing them, and negotiating with stakeholders. It also involves the uncanny ability to determine when risks are worth taking. Your "gut" feel and intuition are artforms in themselves... and that these cannot be contained by logic and reasoning.

From a Scientific perspective, Project Management deals with Earned Value Management, Critical Path Management, Quantitative Risks Analysis, and other PM work that deal with numbers and statistics.

What's the best mix, you may ask? Actually, it would be dependent on the needs of the situation. (Knowing the proper ratio in itself is an artistic attribute.) But then one thing's for sure... you have to have both to be a good Project Manager.

I intended to put up this blog in order for me to share what i've learned as a Project Manager - from both the artistic side as well as the scientific side. I believe that by helping promote the Project Management discipline - i can help raise the bar of Project success - not only in my Projects, but of others as well. A lot of times, failure is brought about by lack of knowledge. As as my favorite cartoon movie would say, "Knowing is half the battle!"

Yo Joe(y)!