Leading a multi-country, international project... The conclusion...

I can't even believe it's December already. It seemed so far away when I first started this project but it came and gone in a flash.

Of course throughout the project we had times when we felt like it was never going to end, or that nothing was going to work. But I'm very happy to report that we have successfully implemented a new ERP system in Brazil and in Chile in roughly 11 months of implementation of efforts. We had a few months worth of planning and preparation prior to beginning the effort with an implementation partner - planning and preparation included internal buy in and communication, implementation partner evaluation and project approach definition - all of which was accomplished with a team of 2, myself (Program Manager) and a Oracle expert.  

When I first started with this assignment there was a lot of unknowns and as usual I reached out to people in my network and in the field to ask for advice - I'm so happy that I did so.

They gave me helpful advice that combined with my experience and courage, and some key differentiators made it for a successful venture.

There were a few key success differentiators for this project - these are all lessons learned that you and I can apply to any of our future projects:

1. Minimum customization
2. Qualified and experienced resources
3. Global design strategy - The Big Picture
4. Testing strategy 
5. Focused Leadership and careful communication

1) Minimum Customization

While customization is important on certain areas to fit a very generic system into a specific business model, it is also very dangerous. People tend to confuse needs with wants and they tend to want the system to solve all of their problems. Sometimes a business problem ought to be solved by people and processes. 

It is also very important to prioritize. Customizations are indeed needed at times, but are they needed right now? 

It can be difficult to reason with a user when they are being forced to let go of something they've know and used for so long. But that's what you need to do. Listen, understand, analyze, document and decide without bias - what's the impact of not having such customization (qualify and quantify it). Also understand the workarounds available and associated total costs. This will help you sort through the real needs, consequences and the other stuff that you will be able to deal with later.

It's not easy... You won't be loved and popular during this process... But you can do it with grace! As my husband would say "Kill'em with kindness" .... Be genuine, watch for the real needs! Don't just say no, take the time to understand and analyze, but make decisions, move forward.

2) Qualified and experienced resources is a must!!

In our project we had an excellent implementation partner (ITConvergence) that assisted us throughout the entire project, but a consulting firm is nothing without excellent individuals. 

Our sales rep was the start of it all - Richard Hooper- you rock!!! - determined, relentless but not annoying and 100% dedicated to making things work for all parties. A true results-oriented guy! He understood the challenges, he took the time to check in, and he went above and beyond to assist us.

The second key player was the ITC project manager - Felipe Costa. Excellent leadership skills. He built a stellar team and most importantly, he lead them in a way that they wanted to follow. Kept things clean, simple and creative. He was always thinking of alternative solutions to make the project work, within budget, within schedule. His technical experience gave him the background needed to help his team move through blockers, and deliver on time. His teams, both in Brazil and Chile were great. An eclectic combination of experience, attitude, and dedication.

In addition to the consultants we also had a very experienced and well rounded specialist (Birgit Mertens) - she knows her stuff! She had lived and breathed Oracle for the past 20 years. Implemented it in many different countries in South America and had a knack for analyzing situations. I'm a problem solver at the core, in the way that I can not have an unsolved problem at hand. However sometimes situations require you to slow down and take the time to think things through - she was good at that, and I truly appreciated how we collaborated together. We complemented each other - I pushed, she pulled and together we always found a solution.

There were many other key players in this whole project, a whole 20+ people involved, not including the users and business leaders.

We didn't always have all the resources we needed, but the ones we did, we tried our best to ask for the best!

3) The Big picture! 

Sometimes we forget to see the forest through the trees .... In this project we didn't. We took the time to define the big picture direction ... At least the ones that would be impactful to the system. It was not easy....

We spent an entire month together with the key players from the two major sites, discussing key definitions that were impactfull to the business, and ultimately would define how the system should operate.

Don't understand estimate the power of a well defined vision! And don't forget to communicate!

4) Testing Strategy

A solid testing strategy, executed early enough in your project can be the key to your success.

Especially when you're dealing with large initiatives, such as an ERP implementation, it is important to plan for thorough testing as early as possible.

Now, I come from a Agile background... so Test Driven Development is a concept near and dear to my heart. However different projects and different initiatives require different TLC.

In this case, in our ERP implementation, the right thing to do, was to sprint to a completion point, where testing could begin. We did not want to spend much time with users validating a system that was too far off from what the end result would be. This meant we had to manage the anxiety, and expectations around timelines, and make sure that our team was fully prepared to execute when the time came.

Testing earlier on with all integrations allowed us to identify key issues earlier on in the project lifecycle, and allowed us time to mitigate accordingly.

5) Focused Leadership and careful communication

Lastly but not least, Focused Leadership and careful communication were key to our success. As the Program manager, I spent most of my time leading the effort - removing roadblocks to allow the project team to do what they do best; and also much of my time was spent on communication. Communicating the goals and expectations to the project team; communicating with users constantly to help them understand the importance of their participation and expertise; communicating with executives to help them understand how we were progressing and some of the risks that we were facing. Constant, consistent and clear communication with all stakeholders is key!!

When it comes to communication, two things are important to keep in mind: Timing and Audience.

Not everything needs to be communicated to everyone. Different audience deserves and needs the proper level of detail and context for certain communication.

We established and communicated Project Norms that included a well-defined Escalation Process which helped us manage the information, how it was communicated, and also allowed us to be more efficient in our decision making process.

Clearly defining and communicating Roles & Responsibilities during the early stages of the project also helped keep things objective and encouraged participation and collaboration among the project team.


I am very thankful for the opportunity to have lead this effort from Idea through Implementation. It was a lot of work, and we faced a lot of challenges, but I am very happy with the results. Not only the project was an overall success, delivered within approved budget and schedule; I also gained tons of experience, learned a new language, made some new friends and got to see some of the world.

Thanks to everyone involved in this effort for your patience, dedication and trust!

 

Till we meet again!!

Leading a multi-country, international project... Part 3

The last two weeks have been intense... On Friday my team and I successfully completed a very challenging test phase of our project. 

For two weeks we had roughly 30 people in a conference room - a combination of users tirelessly testing the system and developers and analysts supporting the tests and simultaneously adjusting the system as needed.

The results were better than expected! #yay

As the project manager I added little value to the actual testing. I don't know the system well enough, nor will be the one using it once it is launched. So while it is important that I learn and be well versed in the concepts, my job is of another kind. 

Before I proceed let me clarify one quick thing - I am not an advocate for project managers without knowledge or technical acumen - just the opposite. I come from a technical background and very much enjoy the techy talk. But there is a time and place for everything.

As I was saying.... My key contribution comes from a different perspective in this role. I am not there to solve technical problems... Rather it is to solve all other problems and blockers that may prevent my team from reaching their goals.

There are 5 key practices that I recommend to all project managers and leaders as they navigate through their efforts and lead their teams.

• Proper Planning
• Effective Communication
• Servant Leadership 
• Emotional Intelligence

These are the exact practices I employed throughout the last two weeks as my contribution to the successful achievement of our key milestone.

• Proper planning 

Planning is my #1 responsibility - in order for things to happen, they need to be planned, especially when you're talking about activities that involve and impact 30+ people from different backgrounds, areas and locations. 

Planning isn't simply putting a plan on paper and expecting everyone to follow it.

Planning includes risk management, expectation management and communication.

When you plan not only for the good scenarios you prepare yourself to react better when things don't go your way. I believe it is important to remain flexible even when you have a solid plan, because things will change and they will go wrong. So it isn't as much about how well you stuck to your plan, but yet how #agile and #adaptable you are as things changed throughout the execution of the plan while still working towards reaching your set goal.

Risk Management is a very important concept for project managers. I have a blog in oven about this concept that I hope to post soon. In the mean time I encourage you to read about it - or contact me if you're interested to chat about it.

• Effective Communication 

The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place. - George Bernard Shaw

What is effective communication? Effective communication, in my own words, is when the message that is sent is received as it was intended. Sounds simple, right!? Well it is not!

Remember that we are all individuals, with our own preconceptions, expectations and we all see the world from our own points of view. So when a message is sent, it may leave the sender with one goal, but it may very well be received in a complete different way.

I will give you a simple but typical communication breakdown example. I am guilty of this many times. As a project manager you want to know what is going on. But sometimes when developers are troubleshooting issues we can become antsy. So what do we do? We stalk them... We ask them the same question 400 times and that only delays the process even further. However our intent (mine at least) is not to say that the developer is incompetent - this behavior of mine has more to do with my anxiety to have to problem solved and lack of patience than anything else. But the fact that I hound the person sends the opposite message. I am worry about our progress and need to manage risk, plan for contingency and therefore be aware if any significant progress is being made. But in the process, I end up potentially upsetting and distracting the developer. 

Better approach would be to meet early in the morning with the developer - talk about the plan for the day and set goals and periodic touchpoints so that he/she can focus and you can get the information you need. This also prevents misinterpretation of the behavior.

"Big and Visible" is another strategy I try to use to ensure effective communication. This also helps with the emotional part of all change and efforts. 

Placing communications, notes, questions, and information in general in a "big and visible" way across the room provides people with an outlet for their questions, a means for sharing information easily and quick, and ultimately a good mechanism for everyone to be on the same page, quite literally. I learned about Visual Management Systems when I first started to learn about Agile. They are heavily used in Lean Manufacturing - visual management is one of the core principles of the Toyota Production System.

Over the last two weeks, I placed large flipchart sheets on the walls, where I invited all participants to write their questions, open items, areas of concerns, etc. I also created a list of Out Of Scope items to help us all manage "scope creep".

• Servant Leadership 

"Servant-leader shares power, puts the needs of others first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible." (Wikipedia)

As a leader, one of the most important things you can do is get out of the way - allow your team to complete their tasks in the most efficient way possible. Getting out of their way simply means you are not a blocker yourself. I gave earlier the example of when I've in the past continuously bother one of my developers to see how he was progressing in solving a specific problem. I was in the way! 

We as a leaders have to not only get out of the way, but we need to also support our team by removing all blockers that hinder their efficiency. Blockers come in many different ways - it can be lack of access to servers, or a laptop with a slow processors. A blocker may be lack of knowledge, or inability to focus due to competing priorities. Whatever the blocker is, you need to remove it. 

During the past two weeks my focus was to put my team's need first and help them perform as highly as possible. That included making sure everyone had what they need to do their jobs, and do it well. 

I arranged their lodging, meals, breaks... took care of the air conditioner, went hunting for numerous power strips, and even made tea for some of them in the morning. Of course I also organized the daily sessions, help drive key discussions, and prioritized activities accordingly. But the point is that there was no task that I was not ready and willing to tackle for the team. 

• Emotional Intelligence

"Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to monitor one's own and other people's emotions, to discriminate between different emotions and label them appropriately, and to use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior." (Wikipedia - Emotional Intelligence) 

When you're in a leadership role, emotional intelligence is crucial to your success. You must carefully monitor your emotions, and of everyone involved so that you can manage the associated behavior and reactions. 

The Webster dictionary defines a project as "a planned piece of work that has a specific purpose". The purpose of a project typically entails introducing a change. Changing a system, a process, or even people sometimes. The bottom line is that something always changes as a result of a project. 

Therefore Change Management becomes another important function in project management. Emotional Intelligence helps you with the human aspects of change: how the people involved in the project deal with the idea, the process and the change itself. 

Change can be very emotional, especially when it affects people's everyday life. So it is important to understand the impact of your project on the individuals involved, and understand how they specifically will or could react to those changes. That understanding will help you deal with situations that may arise, such as avoidance or even disruption.

I took a class in 2011 about High Performing Teams, and Dr. Harvey Robbins, shared then 7 hard truths about change, that stuck with me and have proven accurate ever since:

1. People will feel awkward
2. People will think first about what they must give up
3. People will feel alone
4. People can handle only so much change
5. People are at different readiness levels for change
6. People will feel they don’t have enough resources
7. If you take the pressure off, people will revert back to old behaviors

If someone is unwilling to participate, or rejecting ideas without providing alternatives; showing uncooperative behaviors; take a moment to think about these 7 hard truths and to understand the emotional impact that your project could be taking on that person. 

Another good tool I use to assess people's emotional state in the context of the project or a specific activity (such as the test phase we've just completed) is the Kubler-Ross Change Curve a business adaptation of the Kubler-ross model, or five stages of grief, that illustrates the stages an individual goes through when faced with change.

This graph helps me visualize, on an individual basis, where they stand in the transition, and what help they may need to move forward and reach integration. 

All and all, these five practices, help me be a better leader, and assist my team in reaching their goal.

Thanks again for reading.... and good luck with your efforts!

My first trip to the Middle East....

First and foremost I never thought I would make it to that side of the world, but I did. And what a trip that was!!

I have to be honest it literally started with a little bit of anxiety… I did not know what to expect.

Everything that I heard about the Middle East before the trip made me a little bit nervous… But I went to a place that was everything that I did not expect.

We left on April 1… April Fools' Day: that in itself added to the anxiety. Was I getting punked? 

We bought our excursion through Groupon; it was a package deal through a agency called Gate1Travel. I did a lot of research about the agency online, and ended up meeting people that knew people that had purchased the same package and had gone on the trip last year. And they were all back to the US safe and sound. So all of that ease my concerns, and I was ready to go!

Quick Travel Tip: To stay organized throughout your trip, and have all your activities, events, flights and hotel information at your fingertips, check out TripCase. It allows you to store it all. You can download their mobile app that continuously (even when offline) reminds you of your upcoming events. It also looks up the information of your hotels and gives you quick access to contact information. I just love it!!

The trip was perfect!!! And I'm happy to share some of the highlights with you.... 

We left on April 1st and arrive in Dubai on April 2nd in the middle of the night and there was a guy waiting for us with a Gate1Travel sign. It was comforting to see someone from the agency right away when we landed. 6 other people arrived around the same time, and we were all taken to our hotel in a minibus. It was at the middle of the night and we were super exhausted after having traveled 24 hours to get there (13 hour flight... ouch) ... But right away we started to notice how different Dubai was about to be from anything we had ever seen...

Check out the waiting area outside of the departure gate... Men's Waiting Area. We did not see a Woman's waiting area anywhere... plus there was virtually no women out there. The ones that were out there, sat at a different area - an unmarked set of benches. 

We stayed at the Traders Hotel in Dubai - an excellent 4 star hotel!! Their accommodations were great and very spacious. The service was impeccable - people were polite, nice and very attentive. The food was great - large selection during breakfast (which was included in our package - it was nice to have that included, as we spent the days out and about, it was important to have a big breakfast to hold us over.) The hotel also had a lounge and a bar, which we took full advantage of every night - especially since you cannot buy alcohol anywhere in Dubai except in hotels. Check out this article the British Embassy in Dubai issued with a list of 'Dos and Don'ts' for tourists or expats working in the Arab Emirate after a number of high-profile cases have seen Britons jailed.

We forced ourselves to go sleep once we've arrived in the hotel at almost 2am so that we could beat the jet lag and wake up bright and early the next day for our full day tour of one of the most diverse cities in the world. 

The tour took us to both sides of Dubai Creek, where we experienced both the old world scenery and the stunning modern skyline. 

We had the opportunity to go up to the 124th floor of Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world with 163 floors. It was breathtaking!

We ended the first day, ecstatic and exhausted!!

The next day, after having rested like a baby, we woke up to a free morning; so we decided to visit the famous Miracle Garden, the biggest natural flower garden in the world, containing more than 45 million flowers. It is amazing to see such beauty and life, in the middle of the desert. 

That same day, in the afternoon, we went on a safari into the vast desert that surrounds modern Dubai... and once again.... Just beautiful!! We rode around the desert on a SUV, stopped at many different spots to admire the view, and take pictures. And then later ended the day at a campsite, where traditional dinner was served, we watched a belly dancing show and got to visit with some really peaceful camels. 

The 5th day was also open... which was nice. We decided to explore Dubai on our own using their metro system. Their metro is astonishing clean, organized and very structured. Our first attempt to take the metro didn't go so well... The first car of the metro is reserved for women only, and of course, that was the car that me, Travis, my mom and dad walked into. A lady in the metro let us know right away that men were not allowed in that car, and we panicked and ran out. We could have just switched cars, but it was so unexpected and quick that we didn't even have time to think. 

  

After the day adventure in the metro... we closed the night with a visit to the Dubai Mall, to watch the water fountain show, prior to embarking on the Dhow cruise for dinner. It was the perfect way to spend the last night in Dubai. 

The next day, we departed to Abu Dhabi, but first visited Al Ain the Garden City of the UAE and one of its oldest settlements.

We visited Shiekh Zayed Palace Museum, the resident of Sheikh Zayed and his family between 1937 and 1966. It was there where I had the opportunity to witness one of the most beautiful and overwhelming sounds of my life....

That night we arrived in Abu Dhabi... we checked in at the Holiday in and went to bed. We had to be rested for our last day in the UAE.

The last day... We spent the morning touring Abu Dabhi. I have never seen so much wealth in a single city. The Emirate Palace Hotel is insane big! It is hard to even explain how enormous the place is. We only got to see it from the outside, as this is a very exclusive and expensive hotel. 

The highlight of the last day for me was the visit to the Grand Mosque, built in 2007, which is the eighth largest mosque in the world. Guys had to make sure to wear pants, and all the women has to be covered top to bottom - you could only show your hands, face, and feet. It was an interesting experience. 

Before saying goodbye to Abu Dhabi, we pay a quick visit to Ferrari World.... it completed the day with a bit of adventure and adrenaline!! 

I rode one of their roller coasters, the one that reaches speeds of 95km/hr. The other one - the fastest coaster in the world I had to skip... you feel the acceleration of 240km/h in under 5 seconds and discover what 4.8Gs really feels like - check out the video...

And that was our trip... We returned to the US on the 8th day. The journey back was about the same in length, but because of the time change and the fact that we were returning to our reality, the trip back seemed 100x longer. 

If you haven't visited the United Arabic Emirates (UAE) yet, I recommend you do so. It was an amazing trip for us! I was impressed by Dubai's modern buildings and diverse population (84% of the people in Dubai are foreigners). I was mesmerized by the natural beauty in the desert, and the sophistication of the country's infrastructure. I definitely want to go back, and as a matter of fact,  I want to go back in 2020 for the World Expo - I'm going to succeed because I'm crazy enough to think I can... 

I hope you enjoyed the reading and the pictures... 

Leading a multi-country, international project... Part 2

I have the opportunity to manage a multi country ERP implementation project in South America, and it's been a whirlwind. Meeting new people, enjoying the tropical weather and learning tons of new things are a few of the highlights of what makes me love this gig.

The other main reason for loving this gig is the opportunity to once again build an effective team. This project is particularly challenging given it's multiple location, language and culture. So to build a cohesive team that works well together and overcomes these barriers is an ongoing task. 

For me there are a few things that I, as I lead a team, strive to do:

1) Provide direction and focus
2) keep momentum 
3) drive collaboration

#1 Direction & Focus

As a leader this is your first and main job, to give the team and individuals a direction in which to follow. This is not about giving orders. Orders will need to be given, but this is about showing the way towards the end goal , making difficult decisions, and giving your team what they need to do their job and accomplish that goal.

Direction can come in many different forms - you can provide direction through listening to your team members work through a problem out loud with you; or through reminding them of the vision at times where that vision may not seem possible anymore.

It is however very important to build trust with your team because you want them to follow your direction and they want to know that they are being led in the right way.

Trust is a difficult thing to build and it comes with time, so in the early stages of your project and team building you want to focus on clear and constant communication to drive understanding of your vision and opportunities for interaction. Once you've spent some time together going through some hurdles and overcoming them you will begin to build that trust.

In my case, where my team spends most of its time working remotely it becomes challenging to build trust fast. The important thing to do for us is to find opportunities to get together and maximize these opportunities with focused task-filled days where collaboration is at it's peak - that's exactly what last week was all about!

Also don't forget to have fun with your team. When people get to know each other on a personal level they begin to understand the intricacies of what makes them who they are. Plus having those fun memories to pull from during difficult challenging times during the project is priceless.

#2 Keep momentum 

We all deal with slow decision makers, red tape, and other obstacles that can delay and sometimes bring a project to a halt. When this happens people tend to get frustrated and loose faith in the process all together. They even begin to think that the project may not be that important if we're allowed to "waste" time with non-value added tasks.

As a leader your job is to insulate your team from all of the "nonsense". Maintain them aware because knowledge of it is important, but focus on keeping momentum on productive and value-add tasks.

The way I keep my team's momentum is by providing a bit of structure and through visualization. Structuring their days, their tasks and providing them high level views of the overall project helps them move passed the current challenges and focus on the goal. 

I like to constantly review a graphical representation of the project plan with my team- in the agile world I would review a feature map but it's all the same : an opportunity to see the forest and not just the trees.

Also I'm a list queen! One of the best most simple but life changing concepts I've learned with Agile was the concept of "backlog grooming" - a concept I carry with me everywhere I go. 

A backlog is essentially a list of tasks  (stories) for a team; and the process of prioritizing, cleaning, removing and adding tasks to that list is referred to as "backlog grooming" - for more details visit this site : http://guide.agilealliance.org/guide/backlog-grooming.html

In the context of my project, while we're not using Agile as the methodology, I still leverage some of the best practices; including backlog grooming.

I spend the last two weeks in Brazil, one to oversee the test phase of our project and the second one I spent together with my team to collaborate together and define next steps. That was a short week with a lot to do, so I created a simple list (backlog) of tasks for the four of us to complete. Together we "groomed" the backlog on the first day, to determine priority and decide how to complete them. We completed 26 out 45 items, all High priority items were completed and of the 19 left 10 of them are low priority. It was a productive and very collaborative week and I attribute that to having a backlog and grooming it together with the team.

#3 Drive Collaboration

Collaboration is key to success!  When you have a team that works together and helps each other you get amazing results. 

Collaboration suffers when egos get in the way. So your job as a leader is to focus on the team as a whole and the team goals to avoid individual focus. Obviously you can always recognize individuals for their contributions but in the early stages of team building, try to focus on the team as a whole and encourage your team members to recognize each other.Recognize when teamwork takes place and encourage collaborative behavior at all times.

In addition to providing direction, keeping momentum and driving collaboration, I strive to always lead by example. The best way to encourage a behavior is to model it.  As a leader you should be the example of what you want to see in your team. So if you want results, deliver it; if you want collaboration, be a team player. Be the mirror of the team you want and need.