Thursday, May 20, 2010

Are you an effective leader?

Does being a control freak make you an effective leader? Micromanagers take perfectly positive attributes - an attention to detail and a hands-on attribute to the extreme. Either because they are control-obsessed or because they feel driven to push everyone around them to success, micromanagers risk disempowering their teams. They ruin their teams' confidence, hurt their performance and frustrate them to a point where they quit.

Here are some traits...

  • Resist delegating

  • Immerse yourself in overseeing the projects of others

  • Start by correcting tiny details instead of looking at the big picture

  • Take back delegated work before it is finished if they find a mistake in it and

  • Discourage others from making decisions without consulting them

Start by asking yourself, what is wrong with that. The diagram above attempts to explain how to create an environment of energy and innovation for successful outcomes.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

What is Program Governance?

The process of developing, communicating, implementing, monitoring & assuring the policies, procedures, & org structures and practices associated with a program. Program governance is concerned with controlling the organization's investment.

So, let me give you some concrete examples as opposed to just theory. Program governance ensures the "Program" have:

The Right People

  • Business managers whose problems the program is trying to address
  • Senior leadership sponsorship & engagement means
  • Identification of skills, needs and solutions
  • Common roles (e.g. Project Director, Project Manager)
  • Co-ordination of PM training and mentorship programs

The Right Projects

  • Identification & selection of projects
  • Alignment to strategic objectives
  • Rank & priority assessment
  • Risk management
  • Capacity management
  • Balanced allocation of resources

The Right Process

  • Program management framework
  • Co-ordination and facilitating the development and administration of common controls, methodology standards and tools
  • Align corporate processes with group/divisional processes
  • Regulation & compliance

The Right Tools

  • Change & communications management techniques
  • Central repository for programs & projects in the corporate portfolio
  • Integration of tools to improve project management capability
  • Research and communicate on latest global development in thoughts, techniques and tools

The Right Culture

  • Sponsorship for initiatives
  • Co-ordinate and facilitate enhancing project management capability & culture
  • Sharing knowledge and experiences
  • Forums for project managers
  • Coaching & mentoring
  • Performance recognition (awards)

This is how the word "Governance" needs to translated into actionable tasks for execution so that successful outcomes can be achieved.