Personal effectiveness and project management?

I received questions after my latest post. What has taking action and personal effectiveness have to do with project management?

My simple answer: EVERYTHING!

Let's take a look at an organization structure that is built for a higher chance of success...an army! It's about life-or-death situations with an army. Isn't this true with projects? It may not look like a life-or-death situation, but it certainly feels like one when you are in it! :)

An army functions like a well oiled engine. All moving parts know what each part is supposed to do. Each individual part knows what it is supposed to do, and they are expected to do it well.

The strength of any organization or team lies with the individual.It is the collective individual that together bring a team or organization towards this success. Every individual needs to be effective and competent in what they do. In this way, groups of individuals become effective and achieve their goals. This translates to higher order or groups and eventually, into a larger group known as an organization.

In the project, if individuals are not effective, the team cannot proceed smoothly. The project manager must find ways to promote effectiveness and more importantly, to ensure effectiveness either through mandated processes or through informal means.

Whether I'm involved in reviewing projects that are successfully executed or projects that require assistance, I always want to know the modus-operandi of the individual and processes that were instituted that contributed to the current outcome (whether positive or negative).

I'm old school. I have the belief that everyone in a team wants to do the best job they know how, provided they are given the tools to perform. In my view, knowledge and information are considered as tools. If these individuals to not know where they are headed, the project is headed for big trouble.

This is the linkage between personal effectiveness and project management. Everyone in the team counts. The trick is how to harness that positive energy from each individual so that the sum total positive effectiveness of every individual is greater than the team.

The word "effectiveness" can mean many things, which I will discuss in future blog entries.

This is the trick to successful project management. I have personally used and witnessed the power of an individual and how it can lead to a successful turnaround of a project in trouble.

Bernard

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