52 Tips for Leaders of Project-Oriented Organizations

by Richard Brenner

Is "Leading" your organization a white-knuckle ride? As a leader of a project-oriented organization you probably often feel like you're riding a hurricane. Juggling multiple projects, all competing for resources, many of them late or over budget or floundering, while at the same time you "manage" your organization, you sometimes wonder if there's a better way. There is.

Skip to the Details: How To Orders a leader of a project-oriented organization, you face an unprecedented degree of uncertainty. Today's dynamic conditions and competitive environment are conspiring to make executing even the most conservative project plan a thrill ride, but that's only a small part of the problem — all managers face that one.

Two businessmen Your organization does its work as projects — unique or first-of-a-kind activities that your organization has never done before. And often, no organization has done them before. Projects, as distinguished from operations, present special problems. And managing organizations that tackle projects, as opposed to operations, requires special approaches. That's why I wrote 52 Tips for Leaders of Project-Oriented Organizations. It's for people who don't even have time to read the directions on their prescriptions.

52 Tips for Leaders of Project-Oriented Organizations is an e-booklet that contains 52 ideas that managers and leaders of project-oriented organizations can use right now to address the special problems of managing these organizations.

You'll get as much from this little tip book as you'll get from one of those two-pound books you don't have time to read. And once you start deploying some of the ideas you'll be reading about, you'll free up some time to think. Here are two samples:

Some sample tips

Here are some samples:

Never confuse the accounting system with reality: Accounting systems are fairly good at measuring concrete items, such as cash, revenue, outlays and so on. But many cost drivers in the project-oriented organization are difficult to measure, and they're often unrepresented in the accounting system.; For instance, when we choose cubicles over walled offices, the cost savings are well represented in the Facilities budget. But the increased costs due to interruptions and depressed productivity of the cubicle occupants appear nowhere.; When we rely on the accounting system to make decisions, we probably do well in the short term. But the long-term effects of the failure of the accounting system to model all costs often depress organizational performance.; Make decisions based not on the projections of accounting-based systems, but on more realistic models of organization performance.
Choose status-neutral site names: When managing dispersed teams, we sometimes refer to the sites where team members work by names such as "HQ," "Corporate," "home office," "plant," "fab," "lab," "remote site" and "field office." These names can be toxic because they contain organizational status information.; When site names denote organizational status or role, they affect the self-image of the people who work there. The effect can be so strong that it can actually influence career decisions. In team decision-making, people who work at high-status sites can have undue influence.; To help manage these effects, choose site names that are either arbitrary or geographical. For instance, name your sites after mountains or rivers, or national parks. Or refer to sites by local geographical features, such as a city or street.; Status-neutral site names help members of dispersed teams see each other as peers, which leads to better decisions.

What readers say

Here's a sample of reader's comments:

You're stuff is brilliant! And -- Thank you for sharing these ideas.
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The articles are great, I enjoy getting them, and you always have something very interesting to say, or good points to raise.
I really enjoy my weekly newsletters. I appreciate that the newsletter is a quick read and is much more intellectually stimulating than, say, reading a Dilbert cartoon.
You fill a need that went unmet -- a sort of Dr. Phil for Management!
I have found your articles extremely accurate, inspiring and applicable to day-to-day. You have a great writing style and the lessons that you have shared with us are invaluable.
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Most of us have way too much to do to find much time to read. And the time we do have is broken up into small chunks. We need the knowledge, but too often, we don't have time to get it, and we can't wade through 15-page chapters that lay out lengthy discussions.

Knowledge products from Chaco Canyon Consulting are designed with busy people in mind. Here are some features that make reading our e-books fast and convenient.

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