The Lazy Project Manager meets The Cranky Middle Manager – my thanks to Wayne Turmel for this blog.

[Originally posted at http://www.bnet.com/blog/virtual-manager/why-lazy-project-managers-run-great-remote-teams/554 ]

Being lazy is not a bad thing, just ask Peter Taylor, the Lazy Project Manager. That’s a description he wears proudly. He’s the author of the book “The Lazy Project Manager: How to be Twice as Productive and Still Leave the Office Early” and the blog of the same name. He’s one of my favorite writers on how to handle projects without getting overwhelmed.

Of course, project management started a long time ago, but working remotely has brought new challenges. I recently asked him whether you can still take a “lazy” approach to PM when handling remote teams is so much work.

What’s different about running project teams remotely?

Long ago, Bruce Tuckman defined the stages of teams as “storming, forming and norming” (and now mourning as teams disband quickly and move on to other projects and other teams). Virtual teams get past the “forming” stage pretty quickly, as teams always have. Resources are identified and roles defined.

It starts getting tricky just after that. The “storming” phase is important in preparing the team for working together, resolving character imbalances, sorting out territorial issues and generally getting everyone to know everyone else. Now without a face-t- face session (or two … or three) this will be very challenging, and so you have to compensate somehow. During this time decisions don’t come easily within the group, and team members will no doubt vie for position as they attempt to establish themselves in relation to other team members. Clarity of purpose increases, but plenty of uncertainties will persist. Typically cliques and factions form, and there may be power struggles. The team needs to be focused on its goals to avoid becoming distracted by relationships and emotional issues. Compromises may well be required to enable real progress.

So what? How does this change the role of the manager?

In a virtual situation a lot of these issues can be hidden, so as the leader you almost have to force the matter. It’s also very easy to jump to a wrong conclusion about a fellow team member, apply stereotypical attributes, and miss tensions hidden by a reduced communication process and lack of physical visibility as to how people are behaving.

If at all possible, make the investment in a “hothouse” face to face meeting. By this I mean an intensive, almost 24/7 5-day team experience. Use an external facilitator to drive the storming process harder and faster to a conclusion. Make the business case that this is an investment, no matter how significant, that will pay off.

If this is financially impossible, then you may just have to accept that the “storming” phase will be longer than usual.

What is your role once things are up and running: the time period that should require less of your time as manager?

Once you hit “norming,” the challenges decrease to a degree, but you have to be able to maintain the team spirit. At this time there should be agreement and consensus. Roles and responsibilities should be clear and accepted with the larger decisions made by group agreement. And you as the leader should facilitate and enable.  Commitment and unity should be strong. This is also a time when the team may engage in fun and social activities.

So what do you do when you can’t just head off to the pub for a beer or two?

One technique I have used is the “It’s Friday” email exchange. On a Friday, it is encouraged that all those funnies, Dilbert cartoons, YouTube videos and so on are shared amongst the team. Be careful though -– err on the side of caution of what is funny to whom; culture, sex and beliefs can vary a huge amount in a team.

Another technique is to explore what you don’t know about the team members. Each week on the team calls, get one or two to share hobbies or something unusual that they do outside of work hours. Making new connections with common hobbies help bond a team.

And finally, rotate the team calls. Don’t take the lead each time yourself, hand it over to a team member to take 20 minutes or so to share what they have personally been doing in the past week.

And then on to “performing” — when the team is more strategically aware and knows clearly why it is doing through a shared vision. It is able to stand on its own feet with no interference or participation from the leader. There is a focus on over-achieving goals, and the team makes most of the decisions against criteria agreed with the leader. Make it to this stage and the challenges of remote working will have pretty much disappeared or the team will resolve the issues themselves and you will wonder what all the fuss was at the beginning.

Learn more:

• Hear more from Peter Taylor in my interview with him on the Cranky Middle Manager Show

PMOs are Go To Points for Any Project Related Issue

http://www.ppsosig.co.uk/

This month we caught up with the Lazy Project Manager - Peter Taylor. Peter is also a PMO Director at Siemens. Peter will be speaking at the PPSOSIG conference next month and also has a gift for each PPSOSIG newsletter reader. Read on for more information.

"Right now our projects, and our project managers, need the help, support and guidance of a good PMO." Lindsay Scott

In your experience what are the top three things Project Managers need help with from a PMO?

In a recent survey I conducted the top three things that Project Managers felt that the PMOs that they were part of had provided included 'Support', 'Process' , and 'Project Success' but the one thing that they felt the PMOs had not helped as much in was in 'Career development'. So PMs have a place that they can call home but what they want is clarity and direction for their individual careers.

Your soon to be published new book, "Leading Successful PMOs"; what have you learnt as a PMO lead in terms of successes that you could share with the PPSOSIG members?

When I started my current PMO nearly 4 years ago we had a plan based on the 5 'P' s - People, Process, Promotion, Performance and a PMIS (Project Management Information System). Initially I led on the People and the Process. These were clearly areas that needed the work but, partly by luck and partly by seeing the opportunity, I did a lot of work much early than I planned in the area of Promotion of the PMO. We claimed a part of any and every project success no matter how lightly we touched the work and we shamelessly publicised everything we did. In a very short time we really were adding value but through the early promotional work a) the PMO became the 'go to' point for any project related issue  - we never said 'No' (we often said 'Yikes') and b) the PMO was seen as a value add.

Secondly we ran, and still run, annual surveys of our project managers asking them what they want, how we are doing, what more can we do and so on. I always ask what are the top three challenges that our project managers face - and over the last 4 years they have never let me down ... they always manage to find three things to let me know about.

And finally, what's the holy grail secret that will lead to PMOs becoming more successful in organisations over the coming years? Or less fantastical (!) what does the future hold for PMOs in organisations?

Well not actually owning a crystal ball I can't say precisely but one movement I am keen on is the alignment of a PMO with what I call a TMO - a Technical Management Office. The closer working relationship between those that know how to manage the delivery of a solution with those that know how to define a solution.

Beyond that, the PMO should get actively involved in project definition as early as possible. We know how to be successful in projects so why not build the highest likely chance success in to the projects from the start?

**Get your free copy of The Lazy Project Manager ebook**

Well the run up to the end of the year is looking highly productive if not all lazy.

But that is OK because I am looking forward to speaking at a whole series of events across the globe. Thank you to everyone who has sort out the wisdom of the Art of Productive Laziness and booked me. I am very excited.

• 14th Sept - APM Wessex (Rose Bowl Southampton) - The Lazy Project Manager
• 15th/16th Sept - PPSOSIG - PMOs
• 24th Sept - PM (New York) - Professional Development Day (The Art of Productive Laziness)
• 27th September - PMI Ireland (Webinar) - The Lazy Project Manager
• 9th - 12th October - PMI Global Congress 2010- North America (Washington) - The Art of Productive Laziness
• 9th November - BCS - PROMS-G (London) - The Lazy Project Manager
• 15th November - PM Summit 2010 (Munich) - The Art of Productive Laziness
• 16th/17th November - Project Zone (Nordic) (Copenhagen) - The Lazy Project Manager
• 18th November - PMI Switzerland PM Day event (Zurich) - The Lazy Project Manager
• 9th and 10th  December - 2010 PPM Summit (Barcelona) - Peter Taylor

I hope to meet a lot of new people in the coming months so if you can make any of these events please email me or connect on LinkedIn or twitter or any means that suits you.

And if you have interest in hearing from The Lazy Project Manager in 2011 then now is the time to let me know.

Thank you everyone.

I have just finished reviewing a book entitled 'The Management Imperative' by Anton van den Berg.

One of the benefits of fame (OK I am only joking - but I do some great connections in my network which is probably even better) is that people reach out to me. Anton did just this with his book about 'An honest look at life and how we react to it'.

So, my thoughts. Well it was readable and engaging - a good start. Well more than a good start, it was a critical start since my attention span can be short with challenging and difficult text. And at the end there is a section with a series of exercises, so a good ending.

A good start and a good (and practical ending).

And the middle? Well in Anton's own words 'As to how the book was compiled, I placed my thoughts as and when they occurred moving through the different chapters where the thoughts lead me at the time.'

This led me on to a journey through the book that kept me guessing and intrigued. You never quite knew what to expect next which, in itself, is not a bad thing, My summary is that this a book that is good to dip in and out of and I liked the supporting stories and experiences that illustrated the points the author was making well. I liked the casual, chatty almost style of the writing, and I generally liked the end result.

So thank you Anton.

Check it out yourself - http://www.futuretrust.net/books.html

Are you working too hard to be successful?

Learn all about ‘The Art of Productive Laziness’ with The Lazy Project Manager

Try it for free now or buy the full program for an amazing price – only for the next 7 days!

With this project management training course you can learn more about productive laziness and how you can apply a number of simple techniques and approaches in your own projects to make your life a whole lot less stressful.

Learn how to be twice as productive and still leave the office early!

'Progress isn't made by early risers. It's made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.' Robert Heinlein

The major project topics will be covered but from a ‘Productive Lazy’ point of view. Lazy does not mean Unsuccessful. I am the Lazy Project Manager. You can carry on as you are or you can join me in the comfy chair of life and still get the project results you and your sponsors demand.

So, what’s it all about?

The Lazy Project Manager book is all about working smarter and is an international best seller, and now The Lazy Project Manager has developed a project management course to further aid would-be ‘lazy’ project managers. Whether you are already a fan or you are a newcomer to productive laziness this course will help you become a better project manager.

This is truly a unique project management education experience that you will not find anywhere else. Online project management programs just don’t get much better than this. You can even top off the experience with a motivational session with The Lazy Project Manager himself! 

Each module consists of: 

Easy to understand video presentations 

A practical workshop to enhance your skills

Download-able guide of the top learning points 

Recommendations for further reading

Try it for free – today! Go to thelazyprojectmanager.net and select 

‘Link to Free Members Area’ – it could be the most productive thing you do!

Get your own copy of the international best selling project management book – for free!

The lazy project manager illustrates how anyone can apply the simple techniques of lazy project management in their own activities in order to work more effectively and consequently improve work–life balance.

This ‘productive laziness’ approach builds on the Pareto principle that states that for many phenomena, 80 per cent of consequences stem from 20 per cent of the causes. To put it simply, only 20 per cent of the things people do during their working days really matter.
Inside this book readers can discover:

• The intelligence of laziness – why smart, lazy people have the edge over others;
• Why the Jungle Book’s ‘Bare Necessities’ should be the productive lazy theme tune;
• How to get the maximum output for a minimised input;
• Quick tips to productive lazy heaven.

In addition, the author provides some interesting (and entertaining) things about eating dinosaurs, wearing ermine cloaks, and how to spot a psychopathic woman at a funeral. Also find out why you should never go ballooning, how to deliver a good Oscar acceptance speech, and why it is important for your team that you read the newspaper each morning.

And yes, you may also learn some, quick, simple but important things about project management.

Critical to any projects success is having a good project sponsor, but, like the saying goes ‘you can pick your friends but you can’t pick your relatives’ and the same is true of project sponsors.

So what makes a good project sponsor and how do you deal with the one you have just inherited for your project?

The Project Sponsor is the key stakeholder representative for the project and provides the necessary support for the Project Manager with the primary responsibility of achievement of the project objectives and benefits. An inappropriate choice of Project Sponsor can seriously impact the possibility of success of the project and provide you, the project manager, with an unwanted additional overhead.

Now you can’t practically ask a sponsor for their CVand put them through a formal interview process, nice as it would be sometimes to utter the phrase ‘I’m sorry but I just don’t think that this is the job for you right now’. But you should evaluate the sponsor you have and complete, in a subtle way of course, a ‘Strengths and Weaknesses ‘assessment so that you can adapt your project approach and communication methods to maximise their sponsorship support for the project that you now manage.

Tip: At your first meeting with the sponsor don’t ask ‘hard’ project questions but ask ‘softer’ and more open questions: ‘What are your hopes for this project? What are your fears about this project?’ – You will learn a whole lot more.

But let’s not be pessimistic, that isn’t going to happen to you, you won’t get an extreme case of project sponsor and they won’t fail the ‘interview’. So, what is your next move? Well perhaps you should consider the power base that your project sponsor has. Use the power grid to assess your project sponsor, assess their rating of interest in this project from high to low and their actual power in the organisation, also from high to low.

This will give you an indication of the way in which you should work with them.

Actually this power grid is for all project stakeholders and if you end up with a project sponsor that is in the ‘low interest’ and ‘low power’ quadrant you really have a problem. It is unlikely that this sponsor is ever going to support your management endeavours.

Discover more free content at thelazyprojectmanager.net 

As part of the research for my new book – Leading Successful PMOs (Gower) – I am conducting a survey of project management experience in being part of a PMO.

If you do have 5 minutes I would really appreciate it if you could complete the survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CJ3JDDB - it is only 10 questions J

Please also forward to any project manager(s) that you are connected with – the greater the level of response the better.

Thank you for your support

Peter Taylor
www.thelazyprojectmanager.com and now eLearning at www.thelazyprojectmanager.net

Beyond the basics and beyond the theory what actually makes for a ‘better’ project manager?

What should a project manager focus on to become the best that they can be?

Is this about:

·         Problem solving capabilities?

·         Communication skills?

·         Being able to create a vision?

·         Enthusiasm?

·         Team building talents?

·         Being cool under pressure?

·         Discipline and control?

·         A love for all things ‘project based’?

Perhaps it is a combination of all of the above and perhaps something else?

There are supposedly 16.5 million project managers in the world, and by that it means someone associated with project activity in some form of leadership role. It certainly does not mean a certified project manager, less than 3 % of that number are certified trhough one of the world project organisations.

Andy Crowe, in ‘Alpha Project Managers’, states ‘Alpha project managers work in organisations that support project management... This is in sharp contrast to organisations where project managers are seen as an overhead or are considered a necessary evil.’ (By Alpha Andy refers to the top 2% or most successful project managers)

Peter Taylor, in ‘The Lazy Project Manager’, declares that an effective project manager should focus their efforts at the start of a project, a good foundation, and at the end of the project, for lessons learned.

So you have read the body of knowledge, you have passed your exam, you have the history of practical project experience and you are a ‘project manager’. What next?

What should a project manager focus on to become the best that they can be?

Online Project Management Classes

Having an online Project Management degree may enable easy transition into other related professions like Product Development Manager - Product Performance, Facilities Manager, QA Manager (Thomson CompuMark) and Senior Project Manager (Program Manager ). Increasing numbers of highly respected institutions are accepting online Project Management class transfers due to the growing popularity of online education, so be sure to check out what your local university is currently doing. Numerous online Project Management classes tend to use industry standard literature like The One-Page Project Manager for Execution, Absolute Beginner's Guide to Project Management, The Lazy Project Manager, and A Survival Guide for Project Managers.

http://www.onlineeducation.net/project-management

Thanks to Online Education.

Yes America is preparing to 'get lazy'

I have been invited (and gladly accepted) to speak at two events this fall (see I am getting in to right language mode already):

PMI^® Global Congress 2010—North America (9–12 October 2010 – Washington, D.C. USA at the Gaylord National Hotel & Convention Center)

Sign up for my session (please) - PRJ42 : The Lazy Project Manager: The Art of Productive Laziness

And also in New York at the PMI NY Professional Development Day 2010 (Friday, September 24)

So this is pretty exciting news me and I hope to meet some new people when I am over there.

I am running a survey on LinkedIn http://polls.linkedin.com/p/82942/yagvo to assess the use of PMOs within organisations and their relationship to the project managers.

If you can help out that would be great - thanks

From my good friends at Dylanmae:

Michael Finer says - What are your experiences and opinions, if any, of gaming simulations making a contribution to Project Management learning and improved performance?

I’m a believer, convert, and practitioner. Using an analogy with Flight Simulators, why wouldn’t we want to get realistic and practical experience and make mistakes in a safe, fun but pressured, reflective environment?

There’s lots and lots out there about passing exams, and really good practical books and eLearning such as The Lazy Project Manager (www.thelazyprojectmanager.net)  but “gaming” in comparison seems below the radar – as a community, are we doing it but keeping quiet about it?

Work in a team challenged to complete a multi-year simulation project in just a day – wouldn’t that give more time in the armchair and a better work/life balance (all appropriate acknowledgements to TLPM himself)?

Attend a July public 1-day workshop – money back guarantee for the cynics amongst us – or complete a sentence along the lines of “I think a team based gaming simulation workshop could be really good because.....” for the chance to win a free place. To send in your comments please go to LinkedIn and The Lazy Project Managers group to enter.

Either way, please let’s have some comment, queries and discussion on what I think is an important learning and education option. More information on dylanmae website (www.dylanmae.com) or google “experiential learning” or similar.

I was in my car, thinking again, but rather too much the other day.

I was stuck in a traffic jam.

Now it has been some time since I have been in this position but that is down to a degree of luck it seems.

• There are nearly half a million traffic jams in Britain every year. That is nearly 10,000 a week.
• There are between 200 and 300 incidents of major congestion every day.

• A quarter of Britain's main roads are jammed for an hour a day.
• Congestion levels are forecast to grow by between 11 and 20 per cent over the next ten years.
• Nearly a quarter of people affected by congestion experience it every day and 55 per cent at least once a week.
• The cost of traffic jams to British business is £20 billion every year.

I went through the typical cycle of mood when I was stuck in my traffic jam, for about 2 hours in total.

• Enthusiasm – at travelling to another assignment and generally being in my car on a bright sunny morning
• Total Confusion – as the traffic came to a halt within warning or any suggestion problems
• Disillusionment – as the expected small delay evolved in to a larger delay and then I called the traffic line and learn the horrid truth and scale of the problem
• Search for the Guilty – as we crawled along I stared out of window seeking the cause of my misery and the evil driver(s) who had sabotaged my plans for the day
• Punishment of the Innocent – my anger moved on to anybody who failed to move forward quickly enough in the queue or who tried to change lanes in front of me
• Reward and Promotion of the Non-participants – maybe not but when we finally crawled past the recovery vehicles and police there was a wave of relief and thanks at the work they do

Yes I know it sounds like any project you have been involved in doesn’t it?

So would a super-project manager flown in to the situation have saved the day? Would I have been out of the jam any quicker?

Possibly; when driving we are all pilots of our own little project but we take little or no consideration for each other. No-one has a great project plan for the day’s travel, if they had then perhaps congestion could be better managed and when problems occur a better recovery plan could be exercised.

That said; consider your risk planning before you head off for that journey. I typically build a significant contingency period in to my travel plans – longer if this is a first time meeting, or engagement or the appointment time is inflexible (such as a speaking engagement). I consider alternative travel plans if there are known issues and I ensure that I have all the necessary means of communication to let people know of my progress (or lack of it).

I like being in my car, but not too long!

[Originally posted at http://www.esi-intl.co.uk/blogs/pmoperspectives/]

Since I spend some time driving in my car, and thinking, the thought crossed my mind when I saw two recent LinkedIn discussions going on about new project managers that this was little like learning to drive.

The requests were both for guidance in moving in to project management and in become a junior project manager.

As ever on LinkedIn there was plenty of suggestions from group members, including myself – I commented on a recent podcast I had been involved in ‘What Organizations Really Want in New Project Managers’ PMI 19 April 2010 Podcast  How can you make your mark as a young project practitioner? Find out from three veterans: Harold Kerzner, PhD, executive director of International Institute for Learning; Iain Fraser, PMP, PMI Fellow, PMI past chair and advisory board member at Victoria University; and Peter Taylor, PMP, author of The Lazy Project Manager.

But, in my car, I reflected that it must be very confusing and overwhelming trying to enter in to project management these days. Back when I became a project manager I was the classic ‘accidental’ project manager. Never selecting the role but becoming one through being in the right place at the right time and somehow managing to survive the initial experience. And survive I did, reaching the status of ‘veteran’ according to PMI (makes me feel so young!).

I remember beginning to learn to drive, I had the desire and I had the concept but I had to painfully learn the practicalities and the theory of it all. There was frustration at not being able to just handle the gear changes. Fury at the times I stalled the engine. Annoyance that my instructor absolutely refused to let me achieve any reasonable (from my point of view) speed. And bewilderment at the incompetence of the other road users.

But after 3 months of lessons and some studying of the Highway Code I passed my test – first time as I well I can happily report. And then I began to experience the enjoyment of driving, the freedom, the pleasure and the thrill. I continued to learn to become a better driver of course; theory and driving lessons can only take you so far.

So for a new project manager all the books and the blogs, all the methodologies and bodies of knowledge, all the tips and techniques, all the LinkedIn advice that you can ever want, is all just the starting point. Once you get to grips with the basics then comes the thrill and excitement of one of the best jobs in the world.

Get in that car and drive!

[Originally posted at http://www.esi-intl.co.uk/blogs/pmoperspectives/]

I have been doing a lot of driving recently, which I enjoy as it gives me a lot of time to myself to think.

One of the topics that I have been thinking a lot about is ‘Green’ project management and sustainability in general.

I was fortunate enough to attend the IPMA International Expert Seminar (Zurich) back in February which focused on sustainability of projects in the future. This was a great topic and one that the expert audience (and me) discussed passionately and, at times, strongly about but one which became challenging when specifically speaking about project management itself.

Creating and initiating ‘greener’ projects in the future is one thing but managing a pre-defined project in a ‘green’ way is definitely something else. As a project manager our job is to deliver, on time, to budget etc and we operate within tight parameters and, often, limited authority.

So back to the car:

Think of the project manager as a chauffeur.

The project owner is the vehicle owner.

So if the owner decides to buy a Bentley Continental GT what can the chauffeur do about this, green wise?

Well he can do the following:

·        He can drive in a manner maximising fuel consumption

·        He can ensure the vehicle is not running when waiting for the owner to arrive

·        He can plan the journeys as best he can – using local knowledge combined with satellite navigation linked to traffic hotspot information

·        He may try and understand the owners needs more and have input in to the daily schedule

·        He can keep the car well maintained

·        He can be aware of adverse weather conditions that would affect performance of the car

·        He could use another car for his own private travel

·        He could (potentially) discuss alternative vehicles with the owner

And will any of this make the most impact ‘green’ wise? No, but it will make some. The chauffeur (project manager) will have done their duty, their best to act in a ‘green’ manner and to educate the owner in ‘green’ concerns.

The owner buying a ‘greener’ car will make the most impact; so the worst damage has been done before the chauffeur took the job on – or in the case of most project managers, when they were given the job.

And it has to be appreciated that if the chauffeur refused to drive this vehicle then a new chauffeur (project manager) would soon be found – that is the commercial reality.

So the car owner needs to be ‘green’ and/or his company needs to have a ‘green’ policy regarding transport that would guide the car owner’s choice.

That is what would make the greatest impact.

So here I am in my car – a 6 year old Saab by the way – driving with satellite navigation and traffic alerts. It is well maintained and I keep an eye on the weather for sure.

Admittedly I drive a little too fast to be completely economical but we all have to had our fun don’t we?

[Originally posted on http://www.esi-intl.co.uk/blogs/pmoperspectives/]

Back from PMI Congress Milan - how did it go? Well I guess you should ask the audience - Getting Project Management 'Out of the Box' seemed popular enough. Have you heard any feedback? Share it with me at peter.b.taylor@btinternet.com

High points - selling out The Lazy Project Manager book at the PMI Bookstore. ESI promoting the book on their stand - thanks guys - hope the course sales were good. Networking - great to see the old friends again and great to meet the new ones. LinkedIn is busy! Interview with Bas de Baar - Project Shrink.

Low points - lack of places to sit and talk in the convention centre. What was that all about? Come on PMI - we want to network in comfort sometimes. The weather - well I can't blame anyone for that one.

High and Low points - sitting in the Cafe Bistro looking at Il Duomo and being upsold from a coffee to a meal at 67 euros by the best waiter (salesman - he must have been on commission) ever.

High point again - haveing my photo taken with Alfonso Bucero and Randall England - hey, these guys were the ones I read to become a good project manager...

So it is all over now and we wait until Dublin 2011.

Should I present in 2011 ... not sure ... what do you think?

Yes I am preparing for Milan next week - looking forward to meeting my 'lazy' fans old and new and doing some great networking and attending some great sessions.

Are you going? Then I hope to see you at my session - see below for more details.

I will also be signing copies of The Lazy Project Manager at ESI's stand at the event - more details on this in your pack - and The Lazy Project Manager book can be purchased from the PMI Book Store at Congress.

ISS02 : Getting Project Management “Out of the Box”

Speaker: Peter Taylor, PMP

Monday, 10 May
14.45–16.00
1 hour, 15 minutes

How many people know what you do? Beyond your fellow project managers and outside of your family, who really understands what “being a project manager” is all about? Taking project management “out of the box” will spread the word outside our community about what a great bunch of people we are and how project management is a valuable to skill to pretty much everybody.

http://www.earthpm.com/2010/05/productive-laziness/

OK this is a steal from my good friend over at Earth PM - Rich Maltzman:

Maybe it’s because here in the Northern Hemisphere the warmer weather has arrived (it was over 90 degrees F in Boston last week) and the feeling that Summer is not too far away.  Maybe it’s from being a bit tired after presenting at the PMI’s MassBay Professional Development Day.  No, that’s not it – because that presentation actually energized us.  We loved it!  Alas, for whatever reason, today’s theme is laziness.

Recalling that we sit here, squarely at the intersection of green and Project Management, we found two resources that tie serendipitously into this theme.

The first is a site that focuses on how you can personally become more ‘green’ without spending significant amounts of time, energy, or cash.  It’s called simply, “The Lazy Environmentalist”, and you can reach it right here.  You can find a video introduction by the host Josh Dorfman, right here.  Josh has a TV show on the Sundance Channel. You can obviously learn much more about that by tuning in.

Lazily moving on, we turn to our friend Peter Taylor, aka The Lazy Project Manager, who has a new program in PM training that looks to be all about “Productive Laziness”, in other words, being more efficient and effective as a project manager so that you get to look like the person in our picture above, although perhaps with nicer-looking feet.  Here’s an excerpt from the beginning of Peter’s Lazy Project Manager course:

Welcome to the world of productive laziness.

By advocating being a ‘lazy’ project manager The Lazy Project Manager doesn’t intend that we should all do absolutely nothing. He is not saying we should all sit around drinking coffee, reading a good book (such as The Lazy Project Manager) and engaging in idle gossip whilst watching the project hours go by and the non-delivered project milestones disappear over the horizon. That would obviously be plain stupid and would result in an extremely short career in project management, in fact probably a very short career full stop!

Lazy does not mean Stupid.

No he really means that we should all adopt a more focused approach to project management and to exercise our efforts where it really matters, rather than rushing around like busy, busy bees involving ourselves in unimportant, non- critical activities that others can better address, or indeed that do not need addressing at all in some cases.

Welcome to the home of ‘Productive Laziness’; in this first program of The Lazy Project Manager’s eLearning experience you will learn all about The Science of Laziness; The Intelligence of Laziness; and the Focus of Laziness. With the aid of an Italian economist, a Prussian Fieldmarshal, and a dinosaur you will appreciate the benefits of working smarter and not harder.

You can find a video of Peter discussing his program at www.thelazyprojectmanager.net …  We know Peter because we read and really enjoyed his book www.thelazyprojectmanager.com

Later, he was generous enough to review our book Green PM  and give it a nice ‘thumbs up’.

So what’s common about these two resources?  They both help you do less with more, and they both show that whether your project is green or gold or red or blue, you can do it more effectively and efficiently.  So what are you waiting for?  Put some energy into getting lazy!

I mentioned that I was working on something special and here it is ...Productive Laziness online through an eLearning experience.

Check it out at www.thelazyprojectmanager.net or through the 'Learn to be Lazy' tab on this website.

Looking For Real Life Project Management Training?

Welcome to ‘The Lazy Project Manager’s’ Productive Laziness Training Program.

With this project management training course you can learn more about productive laziness and how you can apply a number of simple techniques and approaches in your own projects to make your life a whole lot less stressful.

Learn how to be twice as productive and still leave the office early!

This project management eLearning course is made up of 4 Programs taking you through The Art of Productive Laziness and the full project lifecycle.

You can either purchase the course program by program or purchase the whole course in one go.

www.thelazyprojectmanager.net

Firstly I will be travelling to Budapest on Wednesday to prepare to join the Project Zone conference and be the closing keynote speaker on Thursday - so much more that when I return.

And secondly The Lazy Project Manager will be represented at Project Challenge at the NEC Birmingham this week by my good friends at Dylanmae www.dylanmae.com so stop by stand 8, check out the 'lazy' training offerings from them - as well as all the other great stuff that they do.

Project Zone

ProjectZone 2010, the 2^nd Annual Project, Program & Portfolio Management Summit and Exhibition, will be held in Budapest, Hungary during 29-30 April 2010. The event, with the theme "Best of Class Practices in Challenging Times". The event is organized by Stamford Global, a leading European business events company.

Join leading project management experts to discuss the following mission critical topics:

• Developing effective project teams
• Dealing with Risk at the enterprise level
• Managing complex programs and projects
• Keeping projects on track and turning failing projects around
• Building and managing the PMO as a Centre of Excellence

Effectively balancing a portfolio of projects and programs

The summit will include speakers from around Europe and North America. Summit Chair will be Beth Ouelette, PMP, PgMP, Managing Director of The Ouelette Group and President of the PMI New York City Chapter. Other featured speakers already announced include Paul Rayner, Managing Consultant at Logica and Chairman of ProgM - The Programme Management Specific Interest Group, UK; Peter Taylor, EMEA Project Management Office Director for Siemens PLM in UK and author of The Lazy Project Manager; Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez, Professor of Strategic Program Management MBA at Solvay Business School in Brussels and Former Head of Post Merger Integration at Fortis BNP Paribas; and Alexandre Rodrigues, CEng. Ph.D. Prof. PMP, Executive Partner at PMO Projects / PMO Group in Lisbon, Portugal and President of the PMI Lisbon Chapter.

Project Challenge

Dylanmae Limited is a training, mentoring, education, consulting and support operation with a focus on "project intelligence" (PI) and "Corporate Performance Management" (CPM). In short, achieving project success consistent with an enterprise's business strategy and context.

Within the primary subject area of project, programme and portfolio management, learning and education services are provided through the delivery mechanisms of workshops (classroom), web and eLearning, and professional gaming simulations.

Enterprise Modelling Solutions built around Enterprizer® can complement Best Practice project, programme, and portfolio management services by placing projects in their strategic business context together with assessment and scoring algorithms.

Our Education and Learning theme is "Experience based realities of Best Practice" and this is achieved through:

• Trainers, facilitators and consultants who understand Project Management best practice and also have many years of Project Management experience in various roles across various sectors.
• Highly participative, interactive, innovative "learning by doing" environments - shown at its' maximum in the four gaming simulation products and workshops.
• Client care and support to ensure correct selection of our courses and workshops and then configuration or adaption according to client needs and environment.
• A strategy of both developing our own course content but also, as with the simulations working with best of breed partners.
• Certifications to ensure continued quality and relevance.

Top 50 Project Management Blogs

by Linda on April 9, 2010

Project management, knowledge management and other management skills are topping the list of requirements for many project managements jobs today as employers seek individuals who can plan, organize and manage resources. The following list may help you stay on top of these requirements, as the 50 project management blogs listed here are written by the best in the field. To narrow down that field, we included only the blogs that were updated within the last week of March forward.

For more information and the full blog list see Masters in Project Management

There are three catgories in this list, and they are focused on individuals who write about project management, blogs produced by businesses that sell software and other tools for project management, and several blogs with a special focus, such as women or students. Each blog is listed alphabetically by the blog title within these categories.

Project Management Blogs

1. Back of the Napkin Blog: Dan Roam believes that any problem can be solved with a picture, and that anybody can draw it.
2. Brad Egeland: Brad has 23 years of IT and business management experience, of which 17+ years are enterprise project management experience.
3. Eric D. Brown: Eric talks about technology, strategy, people and projects.
4. Fear No Project: Bruce McGraw shares his thoughts and experiences on issues that affect project managers and the world of project management.
5. Guerilla Project Management: Enjoy a wide variety of posts gathered from across the Web that focus on project management.
6. Herding Cats: Glen Alleman provides ideas, comments and resources for readers who are interested in project management.
7. Leading Answers: Mike Griffiths is an independent project manager, trainer and consultant.
8. PM Karma: Sreejith shares his passions in project management, planning, management systems development and more.
9. PM Think! This long-running blog talks about the latest in project and portfolio management. Several authors contribute, including Jerry Manas.
10. Project Management Blog: Joao Almeida, a project manager professional and certified trainer, provides project management news and discussions.
11. Project Shrink Blog: Bas de Baar discusses project leadership in a global and virtual world through his popular blog and video podcast.
12. Project Steps: Stephen Seay has been a project manager in the IT/Telecom industries for almost 20 years.
13. Quantmleap: Shim Marom, a project manager, shares his collection of thoughts about project management, among other things.
14. Scott Berkun: Scott’s work as a writer and public speaker has appeared in major publications. His books include Making Things Happen and The Myths of Innovation.
15. Stepping into Project Management: This “newbie” is an assistant project manager traces his journey from student to job in this blog.
16. The Critical Path: Derek Hunter, a certified project manager, offers free project management information, advice and templates.
17. The Lazy Project Manager: Author of the book by the same name as the site, Peter Taylor offers his thoughts on project management.
18. The Tao of Project Management: If you want to learn the Taoist way to project management, tap into John Carroll’s blog.
19. Work Matters: Robert Sutton is Professor of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford and the author of The No Asshole Rule.

For more information and the full blog list see Masters in Project Management

ISS02 : Getting Project Management “Out of the Box”

Speaker: Peter Taylor, PMP (The Lazy Project Manager) www.thelazyprojectmanager.com

PMI EMEA Congress - Milan

Monday, 10 May
14.45–16.00
1 hour, 15 minutes

How many people know what you do? Beyond your fellow project managers and outside of your family, who really understands what “being a project manager” is all about? Taking project management “out of the box” will spread the word outside our community about what a great bunch of people we are and how project management is a valuable to skill to pretty much everybody.

One year ago (where does the time go?) I was driving up North to speak at a  PMI North & Midlands Chapter meeting. The topic was 'The PMO, a 3 year journey' and was a real experience presentation based on, at that time, the last three years I had led a PMO within Siemens.

This was my first 'public' speaking event - yes I had done many, many customer presentations and internal presentations etc before - but this was with the real public. How would they take to me? What would they think?

I was certainly nervous but it seemed to go well. A good session with good audience participation and a few more LinkedIn connections as a result.

(Oh and I did mention the book The Lazy Project Manager of course)

And now, a year later I have completed 30 plus speaking engagements and I am looking forward to Project Zone in Budapest this month as a keynote speaker and at PMI Congress in Milan.

This is fun. I am having a great time.

(I just hope the increasingly large audiences think so as well)

The 2nd Annual Project, Program & Portfolio Management Summit and Exhibition, being held in Budapest, Hungary during 29-30 April 2010. The event, with the theme "Best of Class Practices in Challenging Times", will be at the Corinthia Hotel in Budapest.

The summit will include speakers from around Europe and North America. Summit Chair will be Beth Ouelette, PMP, PgMP, Managing Director of The Ouelette Group and President of the PMI New York City Chapter. Other featured speakers already announced include Paul Rayner, Managing Consultant at Logica and Chairman of ProgM - The Programme Management Specific Interest Group, UK; Peter Taylor, EMEA Project Management Office Director for Siemens PLM in UK and author of The Lazy Project Manager; Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez, Professor of Strategic Program Management MBA at Solvay Business School in Brussels and Former Head of Post Merger Integration at Fortis BNP Paribas; and Alexandre Rodrigues, CEng. Ph.D. Prof. PMP, Executive Partner at PMO Projects / PMO Group in Lisbon, Portugal and President of the PMI Lisbon Chapter. Other well known project management experts and professional leaders will participate as subject matter experts, speakers and panelists during the event.

The event will also include an exhibition of companies with project and program management products and services. For information about exhibition or sponsorship, please contact inquire@stamfordglobal.com. Attendees can receive 14 PDUs. To receive the PMForum discount, just mention PMForum when registering. Such claims will be subject to checking against PMForum's subscriber list.

For morel information, visit the event website at http://projectzonesummit.com/htmls/index16.html

I have just completed and submitted my white paper to PMI ready for the PMI Congress in May in Milan.

If you are going look out for session ISS02 - day one straight after the Keynote session.

Here's a little tastes to wet your appetite I hope:

Getting Project Management 'Out of the Box'

Abstract

How many people know what you do? Beyond your fellow project managers and outside of your close family, who really understands what “being a project manager” is all about? Possibly even your close family wave you goodbye each day without really understanding what you actually do.

Taking project management “out of the box” will spread the word outside our community about what a great bunch of people we are and how project management is a valuable to skill to pretty much everybody.

We should appreciate how we are seen from “outside” our project world and understand which of our many skills others would value.

I want to shout to the world about project management and tell all the great work that I and my fellow project managers do, but is the world listening?

Introduction

What is a project manager, or put it another way, what are you? What do you do between 9am and 5pm each working day (and that is on a very good working day)?

The web has a number of definitions of what a project manager is:

·         A project manager is a professional in the field of project management.

·         The person with authority to manage a project.

·         The person responsible for the project.

·         Individual or body with authority, accountability and responsibility for managing a project to achieve specific objectives.

·         The individual in charge of the progress and performance of the project on behalf of the Project Owner.

·         The individual accountable for all aspects of a project.

Ask someone that question and demand a fast answer in return then the chances are that they will reply as follows:

“What is a project manager?”

“Someone who manages projects”

So not a great deal of enlightenment there then; but to be fair it is hard isn’t it? How do we describe to other people, people outside our closed world, exactly what we do and why what we do is so important? And how do we make it all sound exciting (unlike the above definitions), because it is exciting isn’t it?

http://congresses.pmi.org/EMEA2010/

Well it has been as busy as ever and I am thoroughly enjoying it of course.

Met Dr Harold Kerzner last week at an IIL event in London, he spoke about the future of project management and it was certainly thought provoking. He also kindly accepted a copy of The Lazy Project Manager at the end and emailed me later in the week with some kind words: I started reading your book on the return flight home from Europe. But, since I am lazy, I read only half of it before taking a lazy project manager's nap. Having awakend refreshed, I then read the remainder of the book. I really enjoyed reading it. I like your sense of humor. Many thanks for the book and I will be on line with you on Friday.

I also reached out to some contacts in my network asking for contributions to the inhouse newsletter myPMO. I was thrilled with the response and wnat to thanks everyone who has said 'yes. So a big thank you to :Alfonso Bucero,Henny Portman, Gareth Byatt, Sheilina Somani,Josh Nankivel, Brad Egelund, Pawel Brodzinski, Cornelius Fichtner, Penny Pullman, Deasun O’Conchuir, Lynda Bourne, Soma Bhattacharya, Rich Maltzman and David  Shirley.

I also asked - through LinkedIn discussions - What is the missing book?

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of project management book. My own contribution The Lazy Project Manager www.thelazyprojectmanager.com has added to that list recently.

But what is missing – if indeed anything is – what hasn’t been covered off in a project management book in some way or other?

1.       Interesting question! I'd say that the first missing books are the excellent ones written in English but never been translated in French, as an example. Otherwise, is there a book out there concerning "alternative project management"?

2.       The book of magic spells that allows corporate managers to understand that project management is a profession (a fledgling one at that) that has evolved over 2000 years of making mistakes and improving the process, and not a bundle of red tape that stops them from getting their deliverables quickly.

3.       A book that explains that it's organizational ecosystems that stop projects from delivering more often than incompetent project managers or flawed processes.

4.       A book that explains that sponsorship only starts with approving the business case and handing over the budget.

5.       A book that explains that a plan and schedule is only a best guess as to what will happen, what will go wrong, and how the world will change over the duration of the project.

6.       A book that makes it clear that organisation-level PMOs that have teeth are essential to the efficiency of any company that has more than a few projects.

7.       Your way to work; My way to work When project organisations are embedded into a business organisation (probably, where most project management is undertaken in the UK), the management style of the host organisation, its policies, processes and culture, frequently challenge and set hurdles for those who are managing projects. In a project organisation, patterns of responsibility, scrutiny, process, collaboration, flexibility and performance often need to function differently; sometimes very differently to that which applies for BAU. Project managers must exercise the space that their role confers, but many project functions now urgently need to seek and find a more fruitful accommodation with the host culture.

8.       Project Management and Organizational Change Management - the dynamic duo

9.       For me it is "Transition Management - getting it right"

10.   The project life-cycle is given short shrift in most of today's books. Everyone seems to think that the process groups (initiating, planning, etc.) in the PMBoK Guide are project life-cycle phases. Using those as phases is a recipe for disaster.

11.   My contribution for your next book: 1-Ethical issues like common sense or cultural behavior, avoiding as possible any religious controversy, 2-Legal responsibility, not just legal agreement. 3-Social responsibility. I have found small pieces in different blogs and web pages, not enough and easy to start a discussion or teach a class about.

12.   I've worked in a 'project' structure most of my career but nothing formal. I'm only now wanting to make the switch away from the front line technical role + pm function to a pure PM role. Finding an article which discusses the options available to make this switch and the changes/challenges you will face would be nice. I have all these PMBOK/Prince procedures etc. rolling around in my head but am not sure if you would be expected to implement these or just follow what setup was in place. The role of a PM is varied but i guess it’s more of an understanding of the expectations an employer has of you when you take on a dedicated role....do they want a passive organiser or someone to grab a project by the neck and drive it forwards...  I guess it’s down to the situation and project size but perhaps something which discussed expectations and 'normal' day to day activities of say a small/medium/large project would help. Especially from someone with a lot of experience.

13.   Maybe we still need more on how we can turn books into practical experiences? I say this because we have books - quite a lot of books :) - we get to read them and some we get to like. Then i feel there's a missing link when it comes to applying them into practice.

14.   What we desperately need is more books that deal with the practice of PPM and less that deal with the ideal (or is that idle) theory of how it is supposed to work if only you didn’t have stupid users, stupid stakeholders, and stupid sponsors (and yes I’ve actually had people tell me that the only problem with their projects was everybody else not following the “right process”).

One of these days I'll actually finish my own "The Nimble PM's Guide to Project, Program and Portfolio Management" but in the mean time I hope that we can use this list to share good books when we find them. The principles behind what we do for a living are constant but each of us has a unique mental model and the words that reach us are often quite different.

Quite the opposite of the famous lager advert declaring it was 'probably' the best in the world...

I received the above accolade today and, I must say, I am quite proud of it. I will certainly keep the email notification for posterity.

The background to this marvellous insult (and yet wonderful compliment) was that I submitted a 'paper' based on 'The Lazy Project Manager' to a certain event. Now I absolutely freely admit that it was not a 'paper' in the official sense of the word. It was, in fact. an exact replica of a submission that gave me the opportunity to speak at PMI events in Amsterdam and Sao Paulo in 2009, at Project Zone in Budapest 2010 and at a number of other sessions around Europe.

Being 'lazy' as you know I could not see the benefit of completing some detailed official paper and so I was not at all surprised that it was rejected - I won't be going to the 'XXXXX' Conference in 'XXXXX' after all. I was a little surprised at the final review comment - you get three blind reviews and the purpose is to a) assess for inclusion in to the event and b) offer guidance to improve the paper. In my case two reviewers offered some guidance but for number three it was all too much. I am not sure they were supposed to make such an emotive declaration but they obviously felt that they had better things to do in life.

Why aren't I upset I hear you ask?

I had clearly plumbed new and so far unknown depths for good old reviewer number three and they just wanted to let me know - loud and clear. Well mission accomplished but I am really fine about it.

Here's why.

Several thousand copies of The Lazy Project Manager sold around the world. 2,000 people have so far listened to me present and argue the value of 'Productive Laziness'. I have had many, many great points of feedback. The world wants to be lazy.

Now, the book was conceived and written to be the antidote to the deep, dark and often depressing tomes on project management theory. It was about project management practice. About reality. And it was writen to be read - easily read - and if easily read then the lessons, I hope, just as easily learnt.

It was never meant to be the subject of 'papers' and deeply researched matters.it was meant for the masses and the 'coalface' project managers.

So I thank you Reviewer number three - I salute your wisdom - and I appreciate the affirmation that I am pitching the message at the right (and useful) level.

Long may it continue - it is 'probably' the most lazy thing in the world.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Interview with the Lazy PM - Originally posted on http://www.steppingintopm.com/ by Soma 

If working long hours, pushing the limits and getting back home late was not enough- we all wanted to be lazy. At least for a day!

Lazy as we think; is not always as bad as it sounds- ask Peter Taylor and he will tell you that.

I'd love to be lazy- so I ask him how can I be one?

I haven't read your book, but read the reviews and understand that you are saying through your book "The Lazy Project Manager" that being lazy doesn't mean being bad at your job. In fact, you can be lazy and productive- is that true? What did you mean by that?

'Progress isn't made by early risers. It's made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.' Robert Heinlein (1907 - 1988)

By advocating being a 'lazy' project manager I do not intend that we should all do absolutely nothing. I am not saying we should all sit around drinking coffee, reading a good book and engaging in idle gossip whilst watching the project hours go by and the non-delivered project milestones disappear over the horizon. That would obviously be plain stupid and would result in an extremely short career in project management, in fact probably a very short career full stop!

Lazy does not mean Stupid. No I really mean that we should all adopt a more focused approach to project management and to exercise our efforts where it really matters, rather than rushing around like busy, busy bees involving ourselves in unimportant, non-critical activities that others can better address, or indeed that do not need addressing at all in some cases.

The Lazy Project Manager explores the science behind ‘productive laziness’ (yes there is some) and the intelligence behind ‘productive laziness’ (and yes there is some of that as well). It attempts to share with the reader some of my own experiences that have led to my style of project management where, it is often observed, that I appear to be less stressed, less busy and yet more productive.

‘Productive Laziness’ is the term that I use to express this approach and it is a style of working that is beneficial to an individual, through a better work/life balance, and to the project(s) that they are leading.

When someone is starting out in their profession (project management), no one will usually tell you to "be lazy". How can ‘newbies’ be lazy (if allowed) and yet be good at their work and impress their team?

Indeed, when starting out in a job or role for the first time there is often a belief (both from the individual and sometimes also the manager) that being extremely busy and putting in long hours can be productive. This is rarely the case over any length of time.

Now I am not suggesting that on day one you declare that you are off at 5pm regardless of what is going on, no I am just saying that by just being in the office or on site (in the clear visibility of management) does not equate to doing your job to the best of your abilities or on a productive manner.

No one will ever tell you to be lazy but they equally won’t tell you to be busy. The expectation is that you will get the job done to a good level of quality and within the expected time/cost frame. If you can achieve this and still leave time for other matters that will raise your profile and increase your personal skills and knowledge then all the better I say.

How did this concept of being lazy come to you? Have you always been "lazy"?

Well if I am truly honest it all began with an insult from my manager. At the time I had been working on a training program for our project managers and one of the common questions people asked me was ‘how do you manage to seem so relaxed and yet run a large business operation with hundreds of projects?’.

I was on my way back from Milan, Italy, and travelled with my manager. Now we have worked together for the last 15 years across three companies and he does know me very well. As we chatted about what would we like to do in life I mentioned that I enjoyed writing and speaking/presentations and that sort of thing could be fun to do. He agreed saying that I would probably be very good at this but that I was too ‘lazy’.

And there you have it – an insult? Perhaps but more an insight really, he had identified the key to describing my approach to work and life. From this came ‘The Lazy Project Manager’ and the world of productive laziness.

Now have I always been ‘lazy’ – no I don’t believe so. Certainly in my early days of project management I worked long and hard and definitely was a ‘busy, busy bee’ but after completing a major three year project I looked back and reflected on the effort I had put in to make the project successful. I realised that that much of what I had done was unnecessary and that I often created work for myself that was either not really essential or that others could have done (probably better that my efforts if truth be told).

The Lazy Project Manager was first a website in November 2008 and then a book in September 2009. Now I would love to share the world of productive laziness with the world through speaking engagements.

Wow! Tell me one thing that "laziness" should not be considered as?

An excuse to avoid doing something critical!

The Lazy Project Manager and the art of ‘productive laziness’ refers to the Pareto principle (also known as the 80/20 rule), which states that for many phenomena 80% of consequences stem from 20% of the causes.

The principle was in fact suggested by management thinker Joseph M. Juran but it was named after the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who observed that 80% of property in Italy was owned by 20% of the Italian population. The assumption is that most of the results in any situation are determined by a small number of causes.

So ‘20% of clients may be responsible for 80% of sales volume’. This can be evaluated and is likely to be roughly right, and can be helpful in future decision making. The Pareto Principle also applies to a variety of more mundane matters: one might guess approximately that we wear our 20% most favoured clothes about 80% of the time, perhaps we spend 80% of the time with 20% of our acquaintances and so on.

The Pareto Principle or 80/20 rule can and should be used by every smart but lazy person in their daily life. The value of the Pareto Principle for a project manager is that it reminds you to focus on the 20 percent that matters.

The value of the Pareto Principle for a project manager is that it reminds you to focus on the 20 percent that really matters. These are the critical actions that you should prioritise on and that will deliver the most benefit to your project.

Three ways every project manager can be ‘productively lazy’?

Well where better to start than to focus the art of ‘productive laziness’ in the area of communication within the project.

The would be ‘lazy’ project manager will think very, very carefully about what they need to communicate and how they need to communicate it and why they are communicating what they are communicating.

The general guidance is that some 70-80% of a project manager’s time will be spent in communicating. That is 70-80% of your time!

So, if you play the productive lazy game at all, and you only apply it in one area of project management it makes blinding sense to do it here, in communication. This is by far the biggest activity and offers the greatest opportunity of time in the comfy chair.

Imagine if you would able to save some of that 70-80% of your time, how much more relaxed would you be?

Beyond this then consider how you are using your project team. Are they being truly utilised in the sense of applying their combined knowledge and skills? Could you use them more, delegate more, trust them more, and benefit from their experience more? I bet you could. Try it.

Finally, something I have always advocated if having fun. Whilst this does not necessarily allow you to be more ’productively lazy’ it does bring a very positive feeling to any project and thus should encourage the wider team to more ‘lazy’ (in a good way of course).

‘I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by’ Douglas Adams (Author of ‘The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy’)

You have to laugh; well I think you have to laugh.

Without a little bit of fun in every project then the project world can be a dark and depressing place.

Setting a professional but fun structure for your project can really be beneficial for when the problems start to rise up to challenge your plan of perfectness. And problems will inevitably arise.

And so, ending with a laugh and a wave:

A man in a hot air balloon was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted a woman below. He descended a little bit more and shouted:

"Excuse me madam, can you help? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am’.

The man replied: ‘You are in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above alkali desert scrub habitat, 2.7 miles west of the Colorado River near one of the remnant populations and spawning grounds of the razorback sucker’.

‘You must be a biologist’ said the balloonist.

‘I am’ replied the woman. ‘How did you know?’

‘Well’ answered the balloonist ‘everything you told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I am still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help so far’.

The woman below responded ‘You must be a project manager’.

‘I am’ replied the balloonist ‘but how did you know?’

‘Well, said the woman ‘you don't know where you are or where you're going. You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise to someone that you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. The fact is, you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but somehow it's now my fault!’

Thank you Peter.

The interview inspired me so much, I went ahead and ordered the book last week. It hasn't been delivered, however I'll let you know what I thought of the lazy goodness once I have devoured it.

Be Lazy!

What an intriguing week this week has been.

One of the hardest things for an author, so I have found out, is the reality of being in the public domain.

I mean, in general – a few rare people aside – if you do something that someone else doesn’t like then they rarely say anything to your face (behind your back of course, but not to your face). And mostly, in business, you don’t do much that only carries your name – mostly it is a team effort. But as an author you put it to the people’s vote and sometimes that just decide that you aren’t worth voting for. There is no hiding from it; reviews appear magically in the public domain on Amazon and LinkedIn and many, many other places. You have their money and now you are going to get their opinion whether you like it or not.

It is like having your annual appraisal held in an open court, and who would enjoy that experience?

So this week I received two extremes of feedback. One made me glow warmly inside and one just plain hurt. Let’s start with the painful one (mainly because I don’t want to be seen to be promoting the positive and avoiding the negative, or at least pushing the negative way down out of the way).

The negative then; no names just the review in its entirety, no edits and no cuts.

I was expecting a "Work Smarter Not Harder" type of book. Unfortunately the author of this book is truly lazy. He talks about his unsuccessful projects and the lessons he learned from them as he continually brags about retreating to be "lazy in his comfy chair." In one instance Taylor reflects back on one of his projects that was "imploding." As the project was crashing around him Taylor orders his project team to "go and do your jobs," while Taylor retreats to a local Pub to have a "very nice steak pie, chips and peas with a pint of beer."

As with most of the book, I strongly disagree with Taylor's negative viewpoints and management styles.

In one instance, Taylor refutes "open-door policies" as he argues "An open door policy can easily transform a project manager's role from that of authority and managing figure to that of a subservient accommodator with little chance for exercising control on those who demand access."

I do not recommend this book.

So there you have it – they hated it and you should not waste your money buying the book. You have been warned and that is fine. It’s a free world.

I clearly have failed in this piece of communication with this one person audience and that is a shame. I was definitely aiming for a ‘work smarter not harder’ theme – progress is not made by wise men; it is made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.

I also aimed with the book to make it readable, hence the light style and humour, and I wanted desperately to make it real, hence all of the stories about my own personal experience. And associated with these stores I wanted to make them believable, and so they are all about times I just plain got it wrong but learned a valuable lesson.

So there are many (hundreds) of books out there that are serious, long, dry and therefore tough to read (many useful for sure but readability counts for so much I think – how many business books have you never actually made it to the end?). There are many books that have case studies and stories that seem to indicate that the author(s) have led a charmed life and successfully delivered perfect projects time after time. I haven’t. I have screwed up both through ignorance and through inexperience. That said, in all of the stories I presented the projects were successful (in the end), the moments I describe were not – they were low points. But I personally learn through such experiences, for example, I consider myself a good driver. I have only once had an accident and that was on ice and involved only myself and a prickly hedge. But I am not a good driver because I took the driving lessons and then a driving test and passed, I was a pretty bad drive at that point. I am not a good driver because I drove 30,000 miles a year either. I am a good driver because those moments when I went a little too fast, got a little too close to another car, didn’t pay enough attention to the road, or the road conditions have taught me slowly, over time, to be the driver I am today. I am a good driver because of what I observed on the road from other drivers.

As to the books analogy of the ‘comfy chair’ this is used because so many times I see project managers working too many hours, being too busy, getting too involved, and as a result not doing the best job that can, or doing themselves any good from a health point of view. Less can most definitely be more, if the less is the right sort of ‘less’. The book speaks about ‘productive laziness’ and this is where the book attempts to guide readers as to how to go about selecting the path of ‘lessness’ in order to achieve the ‘more’.  

In the review I am called truly lazy and that is not true. I run a PMO/full time job, speak, author, consult, train and have a good work/life balance (I think – the family may well disagree). I am ‘productively lazy’ because I know how to focus, to balance, to prioritise, to apply intelligence – to work smarter.

But the review is the review and so …

… you shouldn’t buy the book!

And so to the positive; again no names just the review in its entirety, no edits and no cuts.

Peter Taylor is a clever, clever man, and lucky us, he likes to pass it on. Luckier still, the man knows how to write: "The Lazy Project Manager" is entertaining, informative, and most of all, succinct. If you manage IT Projects, Peter Taylor knows that you're already in trouble. For the average Project Manager, "IT" means "Information Trouble"--be it communicating, guesstimating, or prevaricating, Taylor knows your pain. In order to provide you with some quick relief, he does two things to prove that he is clever:

1) He tells you that if you really need to you can skip to the end and get a quick recap of the core points

2) He writes everything else so that it is not only simple, it is well worth the effort of reading through.

So if, like me, you clutch this book while treading water, you will quickly find that the words inside can be used as a flotation device. They may also be quickly consumed and deployed for the full "raft" effect. I was surrounded by work, over my head in deadlines, and despite being in the thick of holiday overtime I still managed to read this book in about two days. I've since read it again, just to keep myself focused as I gradually transition my job to his way of thinking.

So what is his way of thinking? What exactly does it mean to be "lazy"?

It means this: you can't do it all. You shouldn't do it all. And the best way to figure that out is to focus your efforts at the right parts of the lifecycle. Whereas most Project Managers find themselves ramping up at the beginning, furiously frenetic during development, and then tapering off the long hours during implementation and rollout, Taylor suggests that it's far easier if you focus your effort at the front. Get all your ducks in a row, let others take charge of their responsibilities, and--surprise--you'll soon find yourself in the role of "Clockwork Manager", only occasionally having to give things a nudge.

Don't think the above oversimplification gets you out of buying this book! You need the rest, the full package: the interesting anecdotes that'll have you nodding your head, the very useful advice on how to deal with people--starting with yourself, and the very good reasons why your calm capability will lead your team to less stress, more success.

Highly recommended. Top on my list and I'm purchasing an extra copy or two in the event of emergency.

5 stars Amazon USA

So a whole different outlook on the book and the books message. I happen to know that this reviewer read the book at a low point in their project and it helped. And that is fantastic but I can’t rely on all the readers being in a similar place.

So what can I take from this review? Well it seems to clearly state that the book can be easily read – which is something that I truly aimed for – and it does pick up on the outline theme of the book of invest up front, invest at the end and in the middle manage by exception.

So you should buy the book!

Beyond that I won’t go on – clearly if I had to pick one of the two reviews I would pick this one, right?

Well maybe for book sales, yes.

But for ‘lessons learned’, for feedback, for provocation of thought then it has to be the first one. No competition. Why didn’t this reader ‘get it’? Why did I fail to communicate what I wanted to communicate in this case?

I know you can’t please all the people all of the time but as an author you do (secretly) hope that you can break this rule and that you and your work will be universally loved.

In the book I strongly maintain that a ‘lessons learned’ process is critical to getting better as a project manager. I can’t really avoid the same recommendation as an author can I?

Do I want to change The Lazy Project Manager book? No but I will think carefully when the next book is written about a more rigorous pre-publication assessment. I have, through the reviews people have posted, a great network of volunteers (I hope) who will tell me the truth and help me produce something even better as a result of listening to them and their feedback.

I have used this quote before but think it apt in this case.

G K Chersterton said 'A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author'.

I hope that The Lazy Project Manager tells the truth about me as an author – I was only trying to help, honest!

Keep those reviews coming…

Welcome back dear readers - already 2010 and, with the snow falling here in the UK, I am excited about what this year will bring my way. There is a feeling of things getting better (and the prospect of a World Cup for all you football lovers).

Already The Lazy Project Manager has some juicy speaking engagements (see Speaking Events for more information) including:

20th January - Volvo IT (Sweden/Gothenburg); 4th February - APM (Milton Keynes); 9th - 10th February - BPUG Closing Keynote speaker (London); 18th - 19th February - IPMA International Expert Seminar (Zurich); 17th February - BCS (Coventry); 25th February - PPSOSIG (London);  1st March - IIL(London): Kerzner Event - The Lazy Project Manager book signing along with Dr Harold Kerzner; 8th - 11th March - IAMOT (Cairo); and 26th/27th April - Project Zone PPM Summit (Budapest)

But feel free to contact me to talk about some more opportunities - I love them so the more the better!

I have also contributed to a new web based project management training course - Practical Project Management (watch this space for more information) - and have been in discussions with another company about developing training material based on The Lazy Project Manager (again, more information at a later date).

And, on the back of the Facebook campaign to keep the X Factor single off of the number 1 spot this Christmas (successful by the way with Rage Against the Machine selling over half a million singles), I have started the Twitter campaign to make The Lazy Project Manager the number 1 project management book on the Amazon PM Book charts. I need help with this so 'tweet' away.

Peter

Thank you!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

And Thank you all over again!

What a year, what an experience... this time last year 'The Lazy Project Manager' was just an idea, a simple 15 page website that outlined what I was developing as an idea, the germination of 'Productive Laziness'.

Now the book is out and in the Amazon charts around the world (as of today it is number 5 in the UK, 95 in USA, 37 in Germany and 71 in France in the Amazon Project Management books top 100. It is also, not sure how this happened, number 3,130 in Amazon Japan's  English Skills book chart) so there are no complaints from me on that score.

Thank you to all who have purchased the book through bookshops, online stores, this website and at speaking events throughout the year. Amazing!

This website has had over 15,000 visitors now (from a standing start of zero at the start of the year), I have completed 20 speaking engagements including Brazil, done 15 radio, newspaper and podcast interviews.

The world, it seems, want to be 'lazy'.

So thank you to all those people who helped out. Highlights include (but please if I miss out a name you do know I am really grateful) the podcasts with Cornelius Fichtner (www.thepmpodcast.com) and with Mark Perry (www.thepmopodcast.com); the interviews on BBC Radio on 1st September when the book was released; speaking in Brazil, speaking at PMI Amsterdam, and speaking at the International Project Management Day in the UK; meeting with Lindsay Scott from Arras People (http://www.arraspeople.co.uk/); working with Alex Marson and the team at IIL (www.iil.com),; with Scott Punk at ESI (www.esi-intl.com); the support from Aleksey Kim in translating articles in to Russian and from Calvenn Tsuu for translating articles in to Chinese; to all those people who went out of their way and posted reviews of the book on various websites; and to my publishing team at Infinite Ideas (www.infideas.com ) - Richard and David and Katherine and Rebecca and Tim.

2010 offers a lot more excitement with speaking engagements in Sweden and Egypt and Switzerland already booked, as well as a number of UK ones including Best Practice User Group (BPUG) in February (www.bpugcongress.com/) where I will be Closing Keynote Speaker.

Thank you once more and please if you want to know more about 'The Lazy Project Manager' and the Art of Productive Laziness then just get in touch (peter.b.taylor@btinternet.com ), the same applies if you are looking for an event host or speaker for 2010, get in touch and I will happily talk through how I might be able to help.

In the book 'The Lazy Project Manager' I talk about giving a good Oscar winning speech and this feels like one right now so I will take my own advice and just stop.

Have a great festive season and see you in 2010.

Peter

I bet you never consider those two people in a similar way did you? Go on be honest, I can take it...

But yes, in a recent article in Fabulous Magazine (News of the World/Sunday) there they are in the very same column!

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/fabulous/features/606704/How-Brad-can-boost-your-health-Brad-Pitt-Being-bad-is-good-for-you.html

The article is entitled 'How Brad can boost your health (Being bad is good for you)' and is by Anna Magee

Here's the good bit (well the bit that I am in):

LAZINESS... makes you live longer
Step into your slippers, because more sleep, less work and less extreme exercise are key to a longer life, according to public health scientist Professor Peter Axt. "Sleeping eight or nine hours every night, taking naps, avoiding long work hours and extreme exercise all help limit stress," he explains. "In turn that stops your adrenal glands becoming overworked and depleting your immune system."

Do it well: "Waste half your free time," suggests Professor Axt. "People who take a midday nap instead of playing squash have a better chance of living into old age." To become more 'strategically lazy' at work, Peter Taylor, author of new book The Lazy Project Manager, suggests taking time every morning to reflect on what's important to get done that day. "Each morning, identify three tasks that will most benefit you - whether you're a stay-at-home mum or a company executive - then work on completing them as a matter of priority."

So there you are, Brad and myself, like two peas in a pod. I will, of course, forgive you in the future should you get get confused. I wonder if that will work with Angelina?

The importance of being accessible but in a controlled way

I’m all for being there for people, honest I am. It’s just that people take advantage of it if I am.

So for the ‘productive lazy’ project manager I would suggest that it is perfectly acceptable for the lights to be on and for no-one to be at home; not all of the time obviously, and at critical times access and visibility are all too important. But for the rest of the time, why not let the whole of the team work a few things out for themselves, take some degree of responsibility and decision making, and generally get on with the tasks at hand.

Being there when you are really needed and being there all the time are very different things indeed.

Being reachable in a controlled manner, and within an acceptable timeframe, to answer appropriate questions (and not stupid ones) is equally important. The last thing you want is a long line of people queuing up at your desk waiting to ask advice, and you phone flashing with an ever increasing number of messages, all the time whilst you inbox is reaching capacity with incoming demands for your attention.

This can lead to the ‘lights on all the time’ syndrome, a very dangerous condition:

‘What should I do now?’

‘Breath’ you might reply

‘In or out?’

You have so many other more useful things that you could be doing, like reading a good book in the comfy chair for example.

Applying the ‘Productive Lazy’ approach

Avoid the swamp

This is linked in so many ways to the communication topic already covered. If you create a communication plan that guarantees to swamp you from day one, what is the benefit; to you or to the project?

None!

The plan should ensure you are not seen as the oracle for all matters, nor that you are the bottleneck for a constructive information flow within the project team. Most projects develop communication plans in a certain way; that is as a plan that is the documented strategy for getting the right information to the right people at the right time. We all know that each stakeholder has different requirements for information and so the plan defines what, how and how often communications should be made. What project managers rarely do is consider and map all communication flows, official, unofficial, developmental or complete, and do a load analysis across the project structure of these communication flows. Of they did they would spot bottlenecks much earlier on that they normally do, usually this is only identified when one part of the communication chain starts complaining about their workload.

Consider the open door policy

The ‘open door’ policy has become a real management cliché.

‘Of course’ managers pronounce in a firm voice’ my door is always open to you all, day or night; I’m really there for you’.

Empowerment in this way has become more an entitlement for the project team than a project manager’s choice; they just expect you to be there when they want you to be (and not even when they need you to be there either). An ‘open door’ policy can easily transform a project manager’s role from that of an authority, and managing, figure to that of a subservient accommodator with little chance for exercising control on those that demand access to them.

Be a good manager

The best manager is the probably the one who reads the paper or MSN every morning, has time enough to say ‘hi’ at the coffee machine, is isn’t always running flat out because they are ‘late for an important meeting’. By that I mean that a good (an obviously ‘productively lazy’) manager has everything running smoothly enough that they have time to read the paper or MSN and so on. This is a manager who has to be confident in their position and capabilities.

A good manager will have time for their project team, and being one who has everything running smoothly, will allow that to happen.

A good manager does not to be on hand twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. They do not have to have the answer to every question nor do they have to be the conduit to the answer to every question. There is a whole project team out there – go talk to some of them – they probably will have a much better answer to hand anyway.

Think about number one

You honestly want the best for yourself as well as for the project; I understand that, so give yourself that chance. Have you ever met a project manager who has put themselves down as a project risk? ‘Yeah, well I am just too nice a guy, can’t say no, can’t turn someone away, love to chat’ – likelihood 80%, impact 100%, mitigate now!

But hopefully by now you also want to apply the productive lazy approach so consider this; let the team deal with 80% of the communication, 80% of the questions, 80% of the issues, and let the 20% come through you for consideration and guidance. You don’t even have to ‘solve’ that 20%, I would further suggest that only 20% of this 20% are likely to be answered by yourself in an adequate manner, there are always others that can better advice.

Think about the rest

OK, you have dealt with the ‘thinking about number one’ thing, now what about your team? Well by dealing with ‘number one’ you will have already done the team a huge favour. You will be accessible when you need to be accessible. The lights will go on as and when they are really needed – it is a kind of ‘green’ project management policy.

The worse thing that can happen is that just at the moment when there is a ‘clear and present’ need for someone to speak to you, whether that be on a project or on a personal matter, you are just too tied up with a whole pile of nothing to even give them the time of day. Remember the whole ‘respect’ and ‘reputation for team support’ team thing we spoke about earlier, well this is a major contributor the that.

Analyse and reduce

And this is not a one off action; you need to keep on top of this as well. Projects change, communications develop, and roles flux. Do a quick analysis of what information and queries flow through you, and how and regularly re-assess. Can others deal with some of this? What are the important components that you should be involved in? Are there too many questions and communication from certain sources? And so on.

Make sure that everyone knows that the lights will go on and when and how they can turn that light on fast if they really need to.

A project manager’s tale about the importance of position

This one is not my tale; it is the story of a friend of mine, a friend who is, of course, a project manager. A project manager who I know to be very good at team building, a real ‘people’ person.

Picture a new project with a new project office. Apparently the company my friend was working for had reserved some brand new office space in a building that they were going to move other departments in to in the coming months. In the meantime the project team could take over one floor.

Now, I have been in many project offices over the years ranging from a single desk to a temporary office unit (grey boxes that get lifted in to place by a crane and officially described as ‘relocatable and modular accommodation’ apparently). But, by all accounts, this new building that my friend moved in to with his project team was superb.

He chose a nice new desk by a window and with a view facing the doors so that he could see all that went on, people coming and going, working (or not working I guess), and so on.

And so life was good and thus did the project move forwards in a pleasing way.

The only feature that was lacking was a decent coffee machine. They had a temporary one to begin with but the team waited with baited breath for the new, top of the range, super-dooper, hot beverage dispenser.

It arrived one week day morning, wheeled in on a trolley barrow. My friend was elsewhere at the time on important project business. When he arrived back in the project office he was somewhat surprised to see that his desk now had a new neighbour. A coffee machine.

‘Hey, grab a coffee, its great’ was the general cry from the project team. I am sure that that is what he did, before walking the two feet back to his desk.

The project office was full now and so it was too late to move desk. Oh well, a great project office with a great coffee machine was not something to make too much fuss about.

And then things went downhill:

Day 1 – People started saying ‘hello’ each time they lined up for a coffee at the machine by his desk.

Day 2 – People started conversations as they waited for their freshly simulated brewed cup of java by his desk.

Day 3 – People started sitting on his desk, whilst they waited for coffee, said ‘hello’, engaged in conversation and were generally sociable.

Day 4 – People asked him where the spare coffee cups were and what ‘error 54g’ was.

Day 5 – People asked him what the telephone number for the coffee repairman was so that they could report ‘error 54g’ and get the coffee machine fixed.

Day 10 – People started using the phone on his desk whilst waiting for a coffee etc.

Day 15 - The project manager left the building.

In actual fact he did move desks, he manage to secure a small space across the landing from the main project office. It wasn’t ideal as he was now removed from the project team but, on balance, it was better than the alternative.

It doesn’t matter that you want to run an ‘open door’ policy in order to be as accessible to everyone, if your want to get on with your job you do need some ‘space’. To be right at the centre of everything all of the time is not conducive to being a good project manager.

It was the coffee machine or the project manager, and the team made it clear that the coffee machine won hands down!

A final comment

So for the ‘productive lazy’ project manager it is perfectly acceptable for the lights to be on and for no-one to be at home; not all of the time obviously, and at critical times access and visibility are all too important. But for the rest of the time, why not let your project team work a few things out for themselves, take some degree of responsibility and decision making, and generally get on with the tasks at hand.

Being there when you are really needed and being there all the time are very different things indeed.

 ‘You never know till you try to reach them how accessible men are; but you must approach each man by the right door’. Henry Ward Beecher

My thanks to Kevin Hunt and the BCS (British Computer Society) in Bournemouth/Dorset Branch for hosting a great event last night. I enjoyed presenting to a new group of people, not just project managers.

I think the presentation was well received, I gladly thanked one attendee for the compliment of 'best speaker of the year' - very kind.

The principle of 'productive laziness' applies to all forms of business and not just project management I believe so it was very good to test that theory with a mixed audience. I looked forward to any feedback and book reviews in the coming weeks.

I am now officially on the BCS database for speakers and so I look forward to further invitations to speak in 2010.

Having great fun with a really neat idea from theplanis http://theplanis.com/pmotscores/

Real time reputation scores for Project Managers on Twitter. So you need to 'tweet' your favourite 'tweets' and 'retweets'about thelazypm, or whickever project manager you so wish to 'support'

Seeing some really interesting and new (to me) project managers out there in internet world - hi to you all!

theplanis says:

We are tracking all tweets tagged with #pmot and using them to update this list of the most influential project managers on Twitter. Updates are calculated continuously but new results are only displayed every 5 minutes. There is also a list for #agile here.

We won't tell you how the scores are calculated, as that would make it too easy to game the system. We will tell you that following us won't add to your score, but hopefully you might want to do that anyway :-)

Just back from the UK International Project Management day at GSK Stevenage. Really enjoyable day, with some good speakers and interesting topics.

My thanks to Chris for getting me on the agenda and for the great organisation from Nazia(the badge is on it's way I promise).

What was overwhelming was the interest in The Lazy Project Manager and all things 'lazy' - my, my, you must all be way overworked out there in project management land! Each break I there was a queue of people waiting to buy the book, have a chat, pick up a 'I am a Lazy Project Manager' badge etc. (I only managed one coffee and a sandwich during the day - moan, moan ....).

Fantastic - Thank You - Amazing!

Please, do connect with me through LinkedIn and, if you want to hear more than the 20 minutes from The Lazy Project Manager (or maybe that really is enough) then I can be persuaded to get out of my really comfortable chair and speak at your event. Let me know.

It certainly was a really nice feeling heading home after the event.

Now I want to do it all over again.

You may think that I am obsessed by reviews, and maybe I am, but my publisher keeps telling me chase down reviews and so that is what I am doing.

Having run out of friends and family willing to read The Lazy Project Manager and post reviews I have expanded my horizons.

I have asked a question through LinkedIn 'Have you read The Lazy Project Manager' and if 'yes' then please can I have feedback and reviews.

I have initiated a request at Amazon.com Top Reviewers

http://www.amazon.com/tag/top%20reviewers/forum

seeking reviewers, and I have had 6 responses in one week (wow!) a lot more than I thought that I would receive so thanks to everyone who responded, books on their way to you right now.

And finally, I will ask the same question of my blog readers - fancy a free book in return for a review on Amazon or other online book store? Well contact me through this websites feedback tool.

Mind you, I did have a very nice review from Arras People and John Zachar recently - cheers!

It is extremely unusual for me to pick up a 'management book' involuntarily. I think I lost that particular desire when I did my MBA in the nineties. However, occasionally there is a need to acquire additional information or background knowledge. So it was with some trepidation that I picked up Peter Taylor's book one Sunday afternoon, knowing that I'd promised a review. I finished it later that day, having only put it down for a meal. I really, really enjoyed it. I've read a number of the 'jokey' type of management books over the years; those that have catchy titles, and purport to be a fun read, yet seem to be. This time I was pleasantly surprised that the book not only caught and kept my attention, but that it did it in a very enjoyable, easily absorbed way.

Peter's use of analogies and stories is where I found some of the value. The remainder of the value came in the real content of the book. Over the years as a project / programme management consultant, lecturer, teacher and practitioner, I've built up a pretty good education about how to manage change into organisations through projects. I cannot find fault with any of Peter's recommendations - especially the bit about being lazy!

Peter has been able to enrich the content by using his stories and analogies to make a number of points, all of them common sense; even things like "it is important to separate the important from the immediate" (my words not his - you find his analogy in the book). One of the analogies that Peter uses, almost from the outset, is that of a dinosaur - in fact a brontosaurus. "I'm sure you know the one, thin at the front, thick in the middle, then thin at the other end." Well, Peter modifies the analogy a bit by saying that projects should be thick at the front, thin in the middle and thick at the other end again. The thickness of the project shape represents the amount of effort or work that needs to be done at that stage of the project. The corollary is: initiate well, compensating for difficulties, be lazy in the middle because a well organised project can run on its own like a well oiled machine if initiated well, then put some effort into finishing with real enthusiasm, helping all the stakeholders realise how well it has gone, and what a wonderful result we have. Organising your project in this fashion allows you to apply the principles of being a lazy project manager - and still be successful.

That is really what it is all about.

Don't forget, this is not about just being lazy and not doing the job - this is being lazy, and being successful as well. Do the job, but do the job in the most intelligent way you can, so that you can be lazy when you can. That is my kind of project management. The other bits that are interspersed throughout the book are about how to achieve the above by using a great deal of common sense. Peter's book made this entertaining, yet useful for me.

Reviewed by John Zachar, Product Development Manager with the APM. John has previously written for both Tipoffs and How to Manage a Camel, and would love to hear your feedback. Feel free to contact John with your thoughts about The Lazy Project Manager at john.zachar@btinternet.com. This review is the work of Mr Zachar and is no way connected to any views, beliefs or opinions of the APM.

Well to be completely fair to that massive country I should say discovering a small part of Sao Paulo. My thanks to all of the Sao Paulo PMI board for their kind invitation to attend their 9th Congress and present on my book - The Lazy Project Manager.

So last Saturday (that was 24th October by the way) I headed down to Heathrow to catch an 11 hour flight out to Sao Paulo. Now I have never been to Latin-America before so I was excited and wondering just how the good people of the Sao Paulo project management community would take to the whole 'lazy' concept.

Arriving Sunday I was delighted that a 3 hour tour of the city had been arranged for me so I got to at least taste the city and the people - big, crazy, warm and sunny, friendly .... so much to say.

Monday was work time and a big step for me. I have never before presented with simutaneous translation, the translator gently explained that the Portuguese language used some 30% more words than English so just slow down to let her fit all the extra ones in for the audience to understand.

How did it go? Well I should let the audience speak for this but from my point of view I think I presented to about 300 people over two sessions and the feedback was pretty good! At least The Lazy Project Manager book outsold the PMBoK over the two days (sorry PMI) and I gave away 250 badges declaring 'I am a Lazy Project Manager' so there could be a lot of people having a great discussion with their managers later his week.

Back home now I am very tired but thrilled to have another great life experience.

Please, if you liked what you heard then do join me on LinkedIn and share your thoughts.

And to the lovelyTania Belmiro and the fantastic team - obrigado muito.

(PS: Now for Rio - looking out for those invitations....)

Actually I am desperately seeking any connection to the big boys out there in corporate land - Microsoft, Oracle, SAP and so on.

Regarding Microsoft I was reading about the beta release of MS Project 2010 and I thought 'hey!' now there is a potential synergy in marketing - The Lazy Project Manager and The Art of Productive Laziness together with MS Project 2010. Well I thought that but who knows what Microsoft might think about it. I have tried LinkedIn but no luck as yet (Seth Patton if you are out there I would love to connect pretty please ever so nicely).

Anyway, if you lovely readers out there in blog-land have any contacts with the mighty MS - think head of marketing for Project 2010 or similar - then spread the 'lazy' word and make any introductions that you feel happy to do and I will be most grateful.

The same goes for any of the other players, I am looking to do some speaking and book sales with the mighty corporations in 2010 so any and all help with be magnificent. Thank you.I know you people ar really well connected.

And in return? Well let me know what I can do to help.

I am a broken man!

I have always said that I welcome all feedback , all reviews, all comments - it is all useful, it will all help improve me as a person.. I have always said that, in fact I am pretty sure that it was last Friday that I most recently said it.

As a new and still excitable author I confess (as I have confessed before) that I enjoy looking at the Amazon charts and others to see how The Lazy Project Manager is doing. I also, of course, look at any reviews that have been posted by my good readers out there. And that is what I did today.

In Germany, where the book continues to sell well, there is one review that rates the book 5 stars with a highly recommended - thank you - with the comment 'The book is recommended for anyone wishing to experience a healthy mix of in-depth theoretical Project Management together with many years of practical experience with a healthy breeze British humor in a new way of thinking'. (Translated through Google by the way).

In USA one 4 star review - again thank you - with the comment 'If you do not consider yourself lazy, you are going to understand the benefits of "productive laziness"; if you are already a "lazy project manager" the book will make you feel better (you are not alone! :o) and on top of that will give you many interesting lessons learned, without too much effort. I do recommend the reading!

In my home market of the UK three reviews, averaging 4.5 stars - thank you - with comments 'Unlike so many project management books, "The lazy project manager" is both easy to read and yet incisive' and 'The book is an easy read but underpinning it are sound and important messages and experiences' plus 'The author is far from lazy but what he is putting out here is a common sense approach to Project Management that focuses on people and not form filling. My copy has already caused a 'buzz' amongst my PM colleagues, I would say it should be mandatory reading for any Manager who has to work in a project based way.'

Other comments include 'There is nothing like having someone's writing slap you round the face like a wet herring and you sit there (well, actually laying on the sofa) and you enjoy the experience. Thank you very much Peter Taylor!' and 'Taylor does something that I have done on my blog and in my own writing - he gives you a chance to cheat. By cheating, I mean that he levels with you, the reader, the busy reader, the lazy reader, and says something like, "look, if you want to get to the bottom line, skip over to the last chapter now. You will miss some stuff but ... you'll get the idea". In fact, he even uses this principle of cheating itself to help explain the Pareto principle - a tactic I thought was particularly ingenious'.

So that is all good news and enjoyable to read, not to mention a nice ego boost.

But for every 100 sweets in the sweetie jar there is one sour one... and that leaves the longest lasting taste!

Today I spotted this review on Amazon Canada titled 'Not much use' and with a 2 start rating:

I was quite disappointed by Peter Taylor's first efforts at writing a book on Project Management. He asserts that his theory of Project Management, which is a variation on a Monty Python sketch about dinosaurs, is going to help us in becoming better project managers - by being "lazy". By lazy, he means for us to focus on the "fat" part of the project at the start and finish and let the "thin" middle take care of itself.

Throughout this brief book, I was hoping to find some insight as to why he thought this laziness was going to be beneficial to anyone but himself as a project manager. He often mentioned that he'd be sitting in his comfy chair while the project team went about their business of delivering on what he had so wisely and astutely set the direction for.

What a joke. If I had this guy as a project manager with his somewhat "holier than thou" ego, he'd be out the door before you can say "project charter".

I'd recommend that you get yourself a "real" book on project management instead of buying this one that's written by someone who probably thinks he can earn a few bucks by writing a few lines that are "witty and insightful". Now that's what I call lazy.

Ouch - I guess I should be grateful for the 2 stars from 'Masila' (real name?)

Abraham Lincoln once said 'People who like sort of thing will find this the sort of thing they like' so maybe that is what the earlier reviews, the good reviews, were all about? Maybe I hadn't yet met with true objective critical comment?

My mother also said 'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger' - well I have never heard of anybody dying through a bad review but that is good to know.

I have learnt a lot throughout the process of writing and publishing, and now marketing, and today I learnt that whilst you must welcome reviews on Amazon you don't have any form of 'right to reply'. The public pays there money and they can say what they want (well you can request removal if it is offensive but that doesn't apply to the above'.

So, whilst I was recovering from reading the review, I began to think about projects and lessons learned. I speak a lot about project retrospectives and lessons learned at the end projects and I am a big fan. Well if you have read The Lazy Project Manager you will know that. One of the key things about retrospectives is that you give everybody the opportunity to say what they feel - how else do you get to know as much as possible? But the second thing is that you do it with respect.

So I will take on board that the writer was disappointed - sorry, I guess it was not to everyone's taste - that he recommends reading a 'real' book on project management instead - fine, there are 10s of 1000s to choose from for sure and I myself have read a fair few, and indeed recommend a number in my book - and that I ain't going to get a job with the writer either... probably best, although I do love Canada.

OK, but I am going to exercise a form of reply about the 'holier than thou' bit... nearly all the stories in the book were about me getting it so wrong, and learning from the experience plus I absolutely believe that productive laziness needs to run throughout the project team, any other way and it won't work.

Phew got that out of my system. Moving on now.

G K Chersterton said 'A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author'.

I will leave you to make your own minds up about that.

PS: All reviews most welcome - especially in Canada.

With the continued support of all of you out there in tweetfacelinkblog world of course (and the real world)!

The diary is pretty much to capacity for the rest of this year, it has been a fantastic start but I am so looking forward to 2010. The Lazy Project Manager is open for any interesting offers for speaking and training and book activities so don't be shy and get in touch.

There are so many places I have never been to and so, so, so many people left to meet in and around the project management world.

After a good evening presenting at the PMI Chapter meeting in Barnsley last night - thanks Chris Field and Darrel Rogan for the invitation - the 'Lazy Project Manager' roadshow headed south.

Spent the morning at Project Challenge, Olympia and, as usual, met some really nice people.

So it is a 'Hi' to all the people manning the PMI stand - thanks for promoting the book - and to teams on the Compuware and PM Partners stands.

Also met up with Michael Finer to chat through old times and plan some future fun.

October already, and I look forward to presentations on 'The Lazy Project Manager' at an APM meeting on 13th October and PMI Sao Paulo, Brazil on 26th/27th October (it is a tough job but someone has to do it...)

As always looking for any other opportunity to spread the 'lazy' word so do make contact if you have any interest.

What is productive laziness

'Progress isn't made by early risers. It's made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.' Robert Heinlein (1907 - 1988)

By advocating being a 'lazy' project manager I do not intend that we should all do absolutely nothing. I am not saying we should all sit around drinking coffee, reading a good book and engaging in idle gossip whilst watching the project hours go by and the non-delivered project milestones disappear over the horizon.  That would obviously be plain stupid and would result in an extremely short career in project management, in fact probably a very short career full stop!

Lazy does not mean Stupid.

No I really mean that we should all adopt a more focused approach to project management and to exercise our efforts where it really matters, rather than rushing around like busy, busy bees involving ourselves in unimportant, non-critical activities that others can better address, or indeed that do not need addressing at all in some cases.

Science behind the laziness – being focused

The Pareto principle (also known as the 80/20 rule) states that for many phenomena 80% of consequences stem from 20% of the causes. The idea has rule-of-thumb application in many places, but it's also commonly misused, for example, it is a misuse to state that a solution to a problem ‘fits the 80-20 rule’ just because it fits 80% of the cases; it must be implied that this solution requires only 20% of the resources needed to solve all cases.

The principle was in fact suggested by management thinker Joseph M. Juran and it was named after the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who observed that 80% of property in Italy was owned by 20% of the Italian population. The assumption is that most of the results in any situation are determined by a small number of causes.

So ‘20% of clients may be responsible for 80% of sales volume’.  This can be evaluated and is likely to be roughly right, and can be helpful in future decision making. The Pareto Principle also applies to a variety of more mundane matters: one might guess approximately that we wear our 20% most favoured clothes about 80% of the time, perhaps we spend 80% of the time with 20% of our acquaintances and so on.

The Pareto Principle or 80/20 rule can and should be used by every smart but lazy person in their daily life. The value of the Pareto Principle for a project manager is that it reminds you to focus on the 20 percent that matters.

Woody Allen once said ‘80% of success is showing up’, I’m not so sure about that, I have seen projects where there was a physical project manager around but you would never have believed that looking at the project progress, or lack of progress.

No, better I believe to appreciate that of the things you do during your day, only 20 percent really matter. Those 20 percent produce 80 percent of your results.

So, you should identify and focus on those things during your working day.

The Lazy Project Manager – a new book by Peter Taylor

Inside this book readers can discover:

• The intelligence of laziness – why smart, lazy people have the edge over others;
• Why the Jungle Book’s ‘Bare Necessities’ should be the productive lazy theme tune;
• How to get the maximum output for a minimised input;
• Quick tips to productive lazy heaven.

In addition, the author provides some interesting (and entertaining) things about eating dinosaurs, wearing ermine cloaks, and how to spot a psychopathic woman at a funeral. Also find out why you should never go ballooning, how to deliver a good Oscar acceptance speech, and why it is important for your team that you read the newspaper each morning.  And yes, you may also learn some, quick, simple but important things about project management.

In "The lazy Project Manager" Peter Taylor illustrates how to achieve more without expending more time and energy. Welcome to the home of 'productive laziness'. Here there is a more focused approach to project management and our efforts are exercised where it really matters - there's no rushing round involving ourselves in unimportant, non-critical activities that others can better address, or indeed that do not need addressing at all in some cases. It's all about working smarter and Peter Taylor, head of a PMO at Siemens, gives away his trade secrets. This is not a training manual. You won't turn into a project manager by reading this book. But Peter, acting as virtual coach, will help you to identify and focus on the key activities in your projects, do them well and enjoy the world of productive laziness.

I run a series of Google Alerts, very useful tools by the way, and one of these threw up teh fact I, and my alter ego – The Lazy Project Manager – are now on Wikipedia.

Exciting! But now what? All the entry says is:

Peter Taylor (Project Manager)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

For other people named Peter Taylor, see Peter Taylor.

Peter Taylor is a British project manager and author of ‘The lazy project manager’. The book promotes a 'productive laziness' approach to work that builds on the Pareto principle, inferring that only 20 per cent of work effort equates to 80 per cent of results. This approach will allow managers a better quality of life.^[1]

[edit] References

1. ^ Taylor, Peter (2009-03-18). "If you only do one thing this week ... use your holiday". Guardian Online. http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/jul/20/work-holiday. Retrieved 2009-07-20. 

[edit] Works

• The Lazy Project Manager (2009, ISBN 978-1-906821-13-5)

[edit] External links

• [1], Project Management Blog

Reaching out to my network of supporters now – add to the Wiki entry if you can – especially if you have a) read the book and enjoyed it and b) attended one of my presentations and also enjoyed that.

Thank you

I am learning all about social networking these days – ‘tweetfacelinkblogging’ as Wayne Turmel of The Cranky Middle Manager fame has designated these activities. I have been enjoying Wayne’s podcasts recently, a nice selection of guests but my favourite part is Wayne’s introductions and famous person and quote section – check it out. Whilst you are at it also check out the Podcast Sisters for some good gossip and helpful ideas at The Podcast Sisters another podcast I am enjoying through iTunes.

Within the project management world I continue to enjoy and have also had the pleasure of being a guest on the excellent Cornelius Fichtner’s ‘The Project Management Podcast’ at  The PMO Podcast and Mark Perry’s ‘THE PMO Podcast’ at The PMO Podcast - check them both out.

For my part I have podcasts already on iTunes, look for ‘The Lazy Project Manager’, - which reminds me, for those of you who subscribe already, yes it is well past the time that I need to provide some new podcasts. I will get on that this week, promise.

Maybe you have some suggestions for other great podcasts I should be tuning in to?

Apart from that I am ‘tweeting’ away with news of the moment, a little limited on Facebook I have to admit, but an avid fan of LinkedIn – do link up if you want to peter.b.taylor@btinternet.com and do feel free to join my group on LinkedIn ‘The Lazy Project Managers’ – spread the word to your colleagues.

And blogging – well here it is – the new blog from The Lazy Project Manager at my own website www.thelazyprojectmanager.com

So that is that – fully ‘Tweetfacelinkblogged’

OK now I am off to research syndicating my blogs... so much to learn and so little time as they say.

http://careers.guardian.co.uk/forums The Lazy Project Manager speaks to The Guardian careers

A good work-life balance isn't only integral to your own well-being, it can have a positive impact on your performance in the workplace too.

Find out how to improve your productivity and manage your workload in more effective way by posting a question for our expert panel.

The panel includes:

Peter Taylor, head of a project management office at Siemens and author of The Lazy Project Manager: How to be twice as productive and still leave the office early. In his book, Peter discusses the idea of ‘productive laziness’ which encourages a more focused approach to work.

More panelists to be announced.

Post your questions in advance to be sure of a reply

(Weblog - usually shortened to blog) Blog is an abbreviated version of Weblog, which is a term used to describe Web sites that maintain an ongoing chronicle of information. A blog is a frequently updated, personal Web site featuring diary-type commentary and links to articles or other Web sites.

So here we go - a new 'Lazy Project Manager' blog aimed at those of you who are keen to hear more real time/up to date information about The Lazy Project Manager (the person - the book) and The Art of Productive Laziness (the life/work style experience).

It has been a very busy month - my real job keeps me busy of course but beyond that there has been the official book launch (virtual) and the articles in The Guardian (1st Sept) and the interviews on BBC Radio (again on 1st Sept). I am pleased to see the book moving up and down (well more pleased with the 'up' part) the Amazon book charts. It has been up to number 4 in the UK charts (for project management books - I think it peaked at the 10,600 th best selling book in the UK) and has appeared in the US, Canada, German and Japanese Amazon market charts as well.

I also met a couple of really interesting people this month - Rob Cole, one of the authors of Brilliant Project Management (the consistent number 1 UK best seller - for now, I have my sights set on the top spot very soon). Thanks for the lunch Rob and the insights in to publishing in general. I also met Lindsay Scott of Arras People - a short but informative meeting - let's get together again soon.

Yesterday I was interviewed for a piece in The News of the World/Fabulous Magazine - I will let you know when this comes out - all about 'bad' things that can be good for you. So being 'lazy' can be seen as bad but we all know done properly it can be good.

And next week I will meet with Tim Moore from Infinite Ideas, my publishers, for lunch. A real litmus test - if I get to pay then I am guessing book sales are below target...