The Partner Channel Magazine Summer 2016

GET OUT OF THE
SIMPLE AND GET
around them to actually get the project done. A full-service project management practice is intended to incorporate
leadership, customer service, and best practices and is agile enough to adapt to the changing whims of the customers.
Full-service project management focuses on these items: 1. Project managers are taxed with helping get the work
done and leading others, not just organizing the work for others. 2. Project managers are tasked with training other
people to be project managers, even if they don’t have the formal title. 3. The kick-off meeting is required, and
anyone interested can come, not just a select few. 4. All managers respect and know the process so they can support
the culture, not usurp it.
Project managers taxed with getting work done obsess about getting the work done; they obsess about
leadership, and they obsess about organizing. They are contrarians to the dilemma where a project manager
creates endless meetings, more paperwork, and actually distracts from the momentum. In a full-service project
management culture, the project manager offers full services and minimizes the amount of work for people and
almost becomes a one-stop shop. There is a cultural norm where project management paperwork is considered a
voodoo practice. There is no SharePoint because no one reads it anyway. There is not an endless stream of change
orders documented to save face. Instead the team goes thorough intense trust-building processes, and trust is
embedded in the culture and the performance management processes so when something needs to change, we
can trust people will do what is right for the customer, not be mandated to do so because a change order has been
documented. Change orders are only used when the price, quality, or deadline is severely compromised. Also, when
people violate the “full-service” mentality, which is more of “what can you do for me” instead of the opposite, they
are fired. Just kidding; that’s too strong, but they are not rewarded for individual meritocracy but for how much
they helped someone else get something done. It would be nirvana for me if it was so overdone in a company that
someone hit someone with their handbag for helping them (like the woman being over-helped to cross the street
by the Boy Scout).
Project managers are taxed with training other people. In the ’80s, it was very popular to have a “customer
service” department; now in most cases, the customer service “department” is an expectation for everyone.
Everyone in the company is in customer service, modeling the Zappos example. I think the next evolution of the
full-service PM mentality is that everyone in the company is a project manager, and the project manager role and
department become a shared service to equip everyone to manage their projects with the same language, processes,
and flexibility throughout the company. At any time, anyone in the company should be equipped to provide project
expertise as they were equipped to provide customer service. To have people embody the project management
culture and skill set, the company leadership team needs to set it as an expectation, as they did when they said
“Service is everyone’s business.” It would sound like “PM is everyone’s job”. They also need to train people. Project
management is not a natural skill set for some of us; but it is definitely one that can be learned and easily adapted
to your situation.
The kickoff meeting is required for projects, and anyone can come. Typically, in the PM world, kickoff
meetings are scheduled for the elite, and then in the next six to 12 months, the PM spends time trying to manage
multiple stakeholders who come out of the woodwork and were not invited, feel left out, and are now angry with
you! Put the accountability back on the people and invite everyone, those that don’t show up and have a problem
can’t say, “you didn’t tell me!” Well, they can say that, but in my mind you can handle that with a much different
conversation – if you know what I mean! The theory is that instead of spending time uncovering information hidden
under a rock, spend time creating an environment for those who feel affected by, can contribute to, and feel they
need to know. I never understood why we would spend months trying to analyze and manage stakeholders when we
32 SUMMER 2016 | THEPARTNERCHANNEL.COM