Managing Projects Well - Why projects fail? - project management plus

The Behavioral Science of Project Management and Leadership

Curious? Watch this video.

This course is a belief and behavior change course. If you are not interested in changing your beliefs or your behaviors, do not take this course. 

This unusual and intense seminar discusses the “real world” of projects – “what they don’t teach you in project management school”.  The unique approach applies to both team members as well as project managers with all ranges of experience. It is based on the author’s book and facilitated by the author.

Both industry and author survey experience show projects fail chiefly for behavioral reasons. You probably know for yourself how poor cooperation, inefficiency, conflict, lack of initiative, and unmotivated stakeholders have plagued your projects.  We address all these issues and more, using Agile behaviors equally applicable to both Agile and traditional projects.

We explore practice, not theory. Real reasons for project success and failure are discussed, with many options for practical solutions. You are taught specific powerful Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) techniques to rapidly change your own methods and behaviors in the right way for your projects.  

One-on-one coaching, the author’s text, workbook, stress CD, seminar audio, and follow-up WEBinar are all included in the program.  More information on this program can be found on this video.

This course comprises the technologies of human interaction, the exchange of information, and how to compel others to achieve more in the contexts of projects and workplace problems, including: 

• To change the way participants look at things so that the things they’re looking at will change.
• To change the way participants say things so that that the things they say will change things.
• To change the way participants act (by scientifically choosing actions and patterns of behavior and language) so that their actions will change things—including unproductive behaviors at work. 

What you'll actually do in this course:  

1. Investigate the human elements causing projects to fail and related solutions.
2. Improve how you view human interactions for leadership. 
3. Change unproductive behaviors at work to eliminate interruptions, reduce waste and rework, manage scope creep, and clarify objectives early.
4. Practice flexibility in how information gets communicated. 
5. Look at the technologies of human interaction, the exchange of information, and how to compel others to achieve more (motivate). 
6. Anticipate surprises and problems.
7. Forecast schedule delays or budget problems.
8. Prepare team members.

Well known around the world for its pragmatic, interactive approach, this is a favorite of seasoned managers alike. Research over a 10-year period found technical factors were listed rarely out of hundreds of reasons for project failure. All other times, people and behavioral factors - people matters - were the principal cause of failure. 

Especially applicable for Agile projects:

Agile project management has migrated from its home in software engineering to other project disciplines. It is commonly used for small, short turnaround, and rapidly developed projects. The following Agile characteristics necessitate a high degree of team member cooperation, communication, initiative, and influence taught in this course:

• Daily SCRUM meetings need everyone's participation 
• Tasks are self-selected by team, requiring high initiative 
• Need for interaction among team members is high 
• Negotiation and cooperation among team members is required 
• True teams, not just project groups, are necessary 
• SCRUM masters have to involve and influence PMs and stakeholders 
• Short-term problems need rapid solutions

Is this how your leaders are leading? 

Creating silos, turf wars, and power struggles: Do your people have difficulty walking in others’ shoes? Who’s shoes? Your clients, internal customers, members of other departments, team members. In general, you may note that there is a lack of communication between departments and leaders.

Lack of "follow-ship:" Are your people inflexible in their communication style? Do they tend to alienate others because they do not empathize to a sufficient degree with others? 

Creating apathy: Do your people know how to motivate others?

Stifling creativity and communication: Rather than managing fear in the workplace, are your people instilling it? 

Creating chaos: Do your people tend jump to conclusions based on symptoms of the problems, not the true problem? 

Signs of a need for improved awareness by your leadership

Customer Complaints

• Customers are squawking and screaming at project surprises.
• Customers complain "it's the wrong product." 

Poor Project Planning, leaders: 

• Select the wrong contractors. (See also strategic partnering with your contractor.) 
• Carry out projects ad hoc instead of according to an organized plan. 
• Work symptoms of the problem, not the real problem. 
• Are completely unprepared for contingencies.
• Can’t estimate resources, time, and budget. 
• Ask for too few or too many people. 
• Allow scope to creep. 
• Are over-budget and late.  
• Learn about broken stuff too late. 
• Inability to explain complex issues simply and be more convincing to senior management.
• Inability to make a clear case to senior management. 

Failure to Lead, leaders: 

• Submit or surrender to unrealistic budgets and schedules 
• Are taken by surprise about something on project 
• Fail to delegate 
• Fail to mentor which causes rapid turnover
• Accidently mislead customers and team members 

Team Members:

• Fail to report exceptions 
• Feel de-motivated and frustrated working on dead-end project jobs 
• Reduce productivity 

Learn more 

Sample this course: select any of the WEBinars and references listed under "in this section" top-left above. 

More detail: examine our 4 or 5 day formats for detailed syllabus and agenda, or view and print our brochures.

See it live: View our 5-15 minute overview movie, or our 30 minute comprehensive details movie if desired, or, for dial-up connections or electronic audio and PowerPoint "hardcopy", check out our other options.

Notice the ways this course has helped attendees

Projects related to this course: 

For an attendee at one of our Project Management courses, Theresa "re-installed" the capability to visualize problems and solutions the way she had been able to when she was younger, by using coaching and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) .

For a member of a development team, Theresa clarified a vague "team building" objective to a specific one using the Well Formed Outcomes technique: How to minimize conflict during a Joint Application Development session. 

For a Federal Government agency, Steve and Theresa showed multiple teams how to successfully juggle substantially more conflicting projects simultaneously than they had been able to achieve previously, by utilizing specialized course techniques.  The agency reported major decreases in stress and overload, and that it "saved" their group.

For attendees at a number of programs, people have radically altered and improved their personal productivity in gathering requirements and juggling conflicting priorities, by following Theresa's and Steve's advice.

This Course has many deliverables beyond the teaching content

Also included:  

1. Detailed surveying and optional interviewing of participants for course tailoring
2. Two to Five day seminar
3. Day or Evening program on project scheduling, working with contractors, and project risk (public seminar only)
4. Day or Evening program on handling conflict and convincing strategies (public seminar only)
5. Substantial morning, daytime, noon, and evening individual "Navigating The Obstacle Course Coaching"
6. Detailed seminar workbook
7. A copy of the author's book, Managing Projects Well
8. Audio CD: Stress Prevention Technique
9. Digital CD: All PowerPoint slides plus full audio transcript from prior seminars, or if in-house, a recording of your own seminar
10. Global forum website access for information sharing among past participants
11. Follow-on WEBinars to integrate performance on the job

Course Alumni:

Post your implementation experiences on our forum.