Authentic Loyalty Requires Commitment, Not Just Compliance

Leaders often mistake compliance for commitment. Team members' engagement in workplace could be misconstrued as commitment. Status quo performance and adhering to policies and procedures, set forth by regulations within industry, are symptoms of compliance. In order to know the difference between a committed and a compliant employee, leaders and managers should heed simple principles in order to keep the team on track and ensure a "buy in" attitude.Micro-managing is a common mistake of leaders in a compliant polluted environment. This damaging fault of leadership is one that cannot be changed easily or quickly. Acting as the grand overseer causes a state of paranoia for leadership and the team; the incessant need to watch your back and the emotionless overexcitement in an attempt to gain trust can result in an overall hostile work environment breeding compliance over commitment. Work is accomplished but your team is never really performing for the greater good and overall goal.Cultivating a committed team in the workforce should have the majority. Leaders consider commitment as a weakness due to general lack of follow through and commitment on their behalf. However, engineering a committed team can be accomplished in three empowering ideals:I. Strong vision. Team members have an emotional connection to the workplace as the majority of their daily lives are spent at work. One cannot assume that performance means commitment. Team members who lack belief in your vision will take the path of least resistance by ensuring work is completed but punch the clock as soon as the task is complete. Committed team members will go above and beyond, they will put their heart into their work.II. Involvement. Every good organization requires a variety of perspectives in the decision making process. Often the vision is similar for leaders and managers which can result in a tunnel vision and inability to mitigate variables in workflow. This is where feedback from team members is vital. Their democratic role in providing a valuable perspective to how they engage in a workflow or process can provide differing ideas and values when making decisions. Compiling their feedback and sharing to the audience at large keeps the team members engaged, ensures they feel valued by asking their view points and keeps the organization and team moving in the right direction.


III. Recognition. Want to know the biggest secret to employee commitment? Endless thanks. Leadership and managers thank their team members for the greatest goals achieved, hurdles met and when challenges are overcome. This can leave them feeling as if their daily contributions go largely unnoticed. Gaining commitment requires recognition on a regular basis, even if daily. A simple "thank you" at the end of the day thanking team members for their daily contribution shows your commitment to their commitment and daily dedication.Gaining commitment from team members boils down to individual respect and helping them entrust to their own success. When team members feel empowered the quality of their work will show the difference between compliance and commitment. Additionally, committed team members will be compliant in the policies and procedures of the organization. The two roles will begin to homogenize and meld into a cyclical nirvana of a heartfelt buy-in with the vision. Employees will begin to evolve by providing unsolicited, quality feedback to be utilized for the greater good, as opposed to the paranoid, back-biting fear that is generated by constant micromanaging and overseeing. Gratitude becomes the attitude as team members, managers and leadership nurture and develops each other personally and professionally.An overall feeling of trust and security is experienced by the team members when they feel appreciated for their efforts, their feedback is considered in the decision making process and when they can see how they all merge into the shared vision. Maintaining this mode of operation is key for any organization and their leaders in order to operate at top potential for success.

Quality Management on Projects? Are You Joking!

Around 12 years ago I was engaged on a project by a large financial institution in Hong Kong. It was very much the "Bread and Butter" type of project I have worked on for banks over many years - a new office build and migration of several offices and a Datacentre. Nothing spectacular or unique to shout about.During the project my client asked a question I've had asked many many times on projects, but it was asked in such a way that this time I couldn't side-step it quite so easily; "Can I see your Quality Management Controls please?... "'Oh Sh**!" I thought, this will be a challenge for me. Well, I got something thrown together and it was enough to shut the question down for the remainder of that project. Thank god. But I didn't really understand what I was doing and I don't think the client really did either, in hindsight.Not long after, with the same client but in a different country, the same thing happened and it was time to pull my socks up and learn what this beast called "Project Quality Management" was all about. I mean who really gives a damn about quality on projects as far as project management goes...eh?It's so basic and simple that when I did learn about it I had one of those "how stupidly simple is this.." moments. In fact, since that time the relevance of Quality Management and controls have shown to be a fundamental building block of project management and is so relevant that I can't see how I ever managed without it.Actually I was managing quality, informally, in the same way most PM's do - casual checks and balances.So here's the essence of Project Quality Management:If I say I want a Red Roof and I'm going to pay you for it, when I come back I expect to see a Red Roof. OK? If there's a good reason why you can't give me what I ask for then I expect you to manage the change such that I will agree with the outcome.Does this make any sense? I'm not great at getting the words down sometimes. Basically quality is the process, controls and framework that we need to use to assure that what the customer asks for is what the customer gets at the end of the project - and that includes management of any changes along the way.So don't get confused by the term. I did for a long time. Can you imagine me standing in the door way to a new Datacentre and making sure the place was spotless and shiny like a new car.. and thinking that was about "Quality". Dah!In projects, "Quality" isn't about craftsmanship, or finishes or unblemished surfaces or any of that good stuff - unless that is specified by the customer as part of the "requirements".Aha! Requirements..
..No no, don't ask him what he wants, we'll be here forever, just give him something that will do most of the job and he'll be happy and pay us..


No he bloody won't!! At least none of my clients would. Herein lies yet another missed key element of projects. The relationship between all the core controls, which are fundamental to success, is the dependency between the Agreed Requirements and the Final Outcome.If Quality Management is the process of assuring that what as asked for is what is delivered then it makes sense that the "what was asked for" requirements are details enough that they can form a valid and usable check list at the end of the project, doesn't it?Why am I asking you this.. Of course it does. Every half decent methodology teaches you that you start any project with the signed-off requirements. Right now I'm smiling and wondering how many of you poor souls reading this are thinking how many projects you've been on where the requirements were not signed off, or were too loose or vague or non-existent. I know you are there I can sense the guilt from here. I've got that T-shirt too.The single hardest part of any project.. listen very carefully now... is getting the customers detailed requirements, documented and signed-off!!!The single hardest part of any project.. listen very carefully... is getting the customers detailed requirements, documented and signed-off!!!There, I said it twice to make sure it sinks in..You cannot manage Quality if you have no bench mark against which to measure the delivery.
I want a roof...
Yes sir, how big would that be?
Just big enough to stop the rain coming in... And how about the overhang sir - should we make that into a porch or veranda for you?... It's like being asked for a piece of string and not being told how long a cut is needed. You will always get it wrong if the customer decides to change his mind. Given that most projects are longish jobs, there's ample time for people to change their minds and their requirements don't you think? I can tell you they do 100% of the time.With the detailed requirements clearly stated and in sufficient detail, it then becomes possible to manage Quality. And guess what.. it also then becomes possible to manage Change and Risk too. They all hang, for their success, from the fundamental detailed Requirements.So, have we learned something today? If you are a PM then I hope this has enlightened you or at least reinforced what you already knew.If you're a customer of PM services, I hope it has woken you up to the single major critical success factor of your project investment, that you and you alone are accountable for - your requirements! So don't give us PM's a hard time when we hound you for them in the future!

Transformational Leadership for the 21st Century and Beyond

Interest in transformational leadership over the past three decades is the result of global economic changes from the early 1970s when organizations had to consider radical changes in their ways of doing business. Factors such as rapid technological change and changing demographic structures created a turbulent, unstable and competitive environment in which significant organizational change was imperative.Due to the effects of globalization companies needed new approaches to leadership to resolve the apparently contradictory challenge of finding new ways of affecting change while simultaneously building employee moral (Congers, 1999). The theoretical base of work on leadership that prevailed in the 1970s was founded in explorations of traits, behaviors, and situations (contingency theories) and failed to account of some 'untypical' qualities of leaders. During the past few decades, great organizational, societal and cultural changes have occurred. Globalization and technology have caused a reorganization of the supply-chain and worker-chain with an accompaniment of new forms of learning and knowledge sharing. The changes and challenges led to various explorations on leadership theory in seeking for effective leadership models for the new era in which people ask for changes but do not have a clear track for doing that.Leadership theories such as transformational leadership has been developed in an attempt to describe the new phenomena, predict what will happen, and suggest strategies for effective leadership. Transformational leadership theory among all the existing theories is the one that underscores the importance of changing the mindset of the subordinators, building trust for the willingness to internalize organizational values, and encourage the follower to become the leader. In today's fast-changing global environment the problems employees confront often did not exist before. There is a greater need for everyone to respond to one's unique problems properly and timely instead of waiting for instructions from the supervisors and transformational leadership is needed for facilitating the capability."Transformational leadership has traditionally been defined as the display of the following components: charisma, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration". This type of leaders instill pride, faith, and respect in subordinates, promotes intelligence and problem solving, and encourage subordinates to pursue innovative solutions to problems. Transformational qualities are needed in today's organizations because these leaders can motivate others to reach goals, have emotional intelligence, have self-control, zeal and persistence, and are able to self motivate. Personal performance vulnerabilities would be the inability to make quick changes in order to help an organization.


Due to globalization one can become vulnerable to the competition. In a changing global business environment leaders could feel powerless if an organization does not allow for change due to the structure. The sources of risk in today are less predictable and this becomes a challenge to leaders (Tamosiuniene & Saveuk, 2007). Leaders are always at risk because of the changing business environment. If an organization is decentralized or organic this will make things easier because a leader could react quickly to a changing global business environment. Not all organization are decentralized or have organic structures.Globalization, technology, changing markets, and competition has created uncertainty (Tamosiuniene & Saveuk, 2007). Improving emotional intelligence is a strong requisite for effective leadership. In order to improve emotional intelligence one must find ways to incorporate emotional intelligence skills into one's personal toolbox for enhanced career success. According to Ashkanasy (2002) to improve one's emotional intelligence and the emotional intelligence of employee's five tips for better management of emotions are given. For example, one tip is managers should assess the emotional impact of employee's jobs, and design job assignments taking this into consideration. Applying leadership principles effectively would result in positive change in the strategies and effectiveness of an organization.As a transformational leader increasing individual and team effectiveness, implementing innovation, boosting creativity, improving communication and problem-solving, being ethical would be necessary to bring positive change to an organizationReferencesAshkanasy, N. M. (2003). Studies of cognition and emotion in organizations: Attribution, affective events, emotional intelligence and perception of emotion. Australian Journal of Management, 27, p. 11-20. Retrieved on February 27, 2008Conger, J. A. (1999).Charismatic and Transformational leadership in organizations: An insider's perspective on these deeloping streams of research. The Leadership Quarterly. 10(2), p. 146-179.Tamosiuniene, R., and Saveuk, O. (2007). Risk management in lithuanian organization- Relation with internal audit and financial statements quality. Business: Theory & Practice, 8(4), p. 204-213. Retrieved on February 16, 2008, from the EBSCOhost database.Tucker, M. L., Sojka, J. Z., Barone, F. J., and McCarthy, A. M. (2000). Training tomorrow's leaders: Enhancing the emotional intelligence of business graduates. Journal of Education for Business, 75(6), p. 331. Retrieved on February 27, 2008, from the EBSCOhost database.

Hope Is Not a Good Strategy

Hope is not a good strategy for turning your business around or making a business a success.Have you ever met with a CEO that was in charge of an ill performing company that had "hope"? Hope things would get better, hope customers would start buying, hope the economy would pick up? The strategy for the turn around was based only on hope. Has this ever worked? As a rule; no. No, hope is a terrible strategy for turning around a failing business. Hope masks the need for insight and hard work. Hope puts the blame for continued failure at another's doorstep. Hoping the bank will extend your credit puts the blame on the banker if he fails to do so. Hoping a customer will place a critical order places the blame with the customer when the order is postponed. All these mask the real culprit, the real problem; your inability to turn the business around. In this way, hope and blame are closely related. Stop hoping and stop blaming. Start actually turning your business around.Instead of hope, the way to turn around a business is to face up to the mistakes made. Acknowledge failures and be brave enough to admit them. Only then can you learn from them and not repeat them. Every successful company, EVERY ONE, lives by the graces of their customers. Listen to them, be absolutely sure that what you offer is in line with the customer's needs. Then look internally and run your business so that profit can be made providing the goods or services your customer wants. It really is that simple!


Identifying the customer's needs is easily done by designing a survey to those customers that bought from you and one for those customers that didn't. Why did they buy, why didn't others? You need to know the answers to both. Design a survey that can yield results that can be used by the marketing and sales department to better formulate your products offered. You need to know your successes as much as your failures. Obviously, there are many more failures that successes, otherwise your business wouldn't be in trouble to begin with. Why did you lose the sale? What was it that turned your customer off? Having a customer is hard enough, winning him back after losing him is infinitely harder.Quantify your successes and quantify your losses. Be clear about your position in the market. From this position can you plot the course to revival. The answers you find might not be what you want to hear but they might be the truth. Do you want to turn your business around? If so, abandon your ego, abandon hope, embrace your customers and what they're telling you. Go and make your business the success story it deserves to be!With your success in mind,M Schuitemaker

Useful Tips to Help You Streamline Your IT Project Schedule

If you are a project manager in the IT industry, it is possible that you have attended project management training during some point in your career. If so, you will have no doubt learnt some handy tips and tricks for the successful completion of your IT project. However, there is always more that you can learn. Here are some useful tips and checks to make to help you successfully complete your IT project.Pre-Assessment MetricsThere are six metrics to calculate before you can begin the quality checks on your project. These are:
1. Complete Tasks- those with an actual finish date.
2. Incomplete Tasks- those without an actual finish date.
3. Total Tasks- all tasks with the exception of summaries, milestone, zero baseline duration and sub-project tasks.
4. Baseline Count- all tasks completed before the status project date.
5. BEI Baseline Count- all tasks completed before the status project date, plus those that do not have a baseline start and finish date.
6. Relationship Count- this includes finis-start (FS), start-finish (SF), finish-finish (FF) and start-start (SS) dependencies.Quality Checks
Once you have completed your initial assessment, you can use the following checks:1. Lags check- there should be under 5% of tasks with lags in your schedule as they impact on the critical path.
2. Leads check - leads, or negative lags, can have a negative impact on a project's critical path. A successful, quality plan should have zero leads.
3. Logic check - use this to find out if a subject is missing a predecessor or successor - all activities should have one of each. There should not be more than 5% of tasks missing logic.
4. High float check - this check identifies tasks with a float of over 44 days and this figure should be under 5%. Activities with high floats are an indicator that the task is missing either a predecessor or successor.
5. Negative float check - there should be zero tasks with a negative float and this check will identify these.
6. Hard constraints check - this is for any activities that have time-related constraints, such as when they must start or finish. This check identifies those tasks with hard constraints and it is important that there is no more than 5% of these.
7. Relationship types check - to get a logical flow in your schedule, at least 90% of the tasks will need to have a finish to start relationship.
8. High duration check - any task that has a baseline of duration is described as high duration. There should be under 5% of these because, ideally, these tasks should be broken down into smaller tasks.
9. Missed tasks check - while accepting that some tasks will be completed late, it is important to align the current schedule dates with the baseline schedule dates. This check searches for tasks that fall outside of this.
10. Invalid dates check - this checks through the scheduled dates of each task to make sure that the are within the start and finish project status dates.
11. Resources check- all tasks should have resources connected to them and this check finds any that don't.
12. Critical path test check - to test the integrity of your schedule, you need to deliberately input an additional 600 days into the remaining amount of time on the critical path test. If the project finish date and the added duration finish date match, then your schedule passes the test.
13. Critical Path Length Index (CPLI) - this determines how realistic your finish date is when taking into account the forecasted finish date.
14. Baseline Execution Index (BEI) - this compares the number of tasks actually completed to the number of tasks scheduled for completion at the same stage.


Including these pre-assessment metrics and quality checks as part of your IT project management framework is important to achieve project success.