The differences between standard and international project management rely on purpose, scope, stakeholders, risk intensity, and mainly, culture understanding. The tools and techniques that apply for standard projects also apply for international ones. International projects reach beyond national boundaries. They are multicultural. Don’t mix virtual projects, which is a subgroup of an international project management.
An increase number of American companies are trying to develop and place new products or services internationally. For any international project to succeed, it’s highly recommended that the project manager has more interpersonal skills, intercultural management, and language skills. And, of course, willing to travel and spend time at the place where the product/service will be deployed. Project managers have to be aware of the nature of cultural differences, and must be trained in efficiently working in and with diversity. After all, project managers will be dealing with different cultures.
In international project management, the risk propensity and changes are very high. So, project managers and his or her team need to allow flexibility and quick responses. At the same time, they need to maintain cohesion among the multicultural stakeholders with a common project methodology. Project managers need to be willing to take risks and deal with changes to cope with the international complex environment.
Another important factor that contributes to an international project to succeed is to have a project management office (PMO) in place. In other words, an infrastructure that centrally supports projects. The main purposes of a PMO are to develop and apply reusable project management methodologies and processes, to support ongoing projects with advice as internal consultants, to increase staff productivity, to assure quality of projects, to support senior executives, and to retain knowledge.
In order to function successfully, a PMO needs to have sufficient authority and direct top management support. If your company doesn’t have one, you, as a project manager, can take the initiative to start one. Start by developing templates that can be used in your project, as well as in others.
I really believe that the success of an international project management relies on the two “Cs”; Cohesiveness and Culture.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Thursday, June 3, 2010
How to turn an adversary into your friend when negotiating
The structure of a negotiation is generally assumed to be adversarial. That assumption explains why many negotiations fail.
When negotiating, we are dealing with actual or possible differences with someone else. It doesn’t matter if you are negotiating with your team member, stakeholder, or a vendor, but we want to deal with those differences in a way that leaves us feeling satisfied and that wastes as little time and as few resources as possible.
In negotiation, the power of a personal connection can bridge the gap between “our side” and “theirs”, and in most cases, obligates us to search for an agreement of mutual benefit, and more likely to honor this agreement. We and the other negotiator counterpart may have the same role, but if we never discover our common role if we don’t obtain any personal connection. Personal connection can also act as a safety net in the event that discussion gets tense.
Here are some tips to bridge the gap between “our side” and “theirs”.
1- Arrange to meet in an informal setting before negotiating. It may reduce the danger of miscommunication, and you can watch the other person’s body language, their tone of voice, and the content of the message.
2- When negotiating, sit side by side, if that is reasonably possible.
3- Refer to the importance of their interests, which makes the other party with a feeling of being understood and offers the greatest opportunity to forge a sense of closeness.
4- Emphasize the shared nature of the work you are both facing.
5- Avoid dominating the conversation. Always allow the other party to talk, and meanwhile, be an active listener.
Understanding the physical signals of emotional distance can help you measure the degree of connection between you and another. It can also warn you when you are in danger of overstepping the other’s personal boundaries or getting too close for comfort.
Sometimes, strong personal connections may not be enough to secure a collaborative relationship. It can lead us to make bad decisions. In this case, don’t forget that wise decisions involve both your head and your gut. So, try to understand and separate your head from your gut feeling by asking yourself the following questions:
Head (logical) – What is my BATNA – Best Alternative to Negotiated Agreement? If I don’t reach an agreement, what am I going to do? What would be the costs, schedule, scope, quality impact?
Gut feeling – How am I feeling about committing to this decision? If I say no, how will I feel later (close your eyes, check your guts)? If I say yes, how will I feel later (does this decision feel right? Why?)?
When you are checking with your gut or your intuition to learn how something would feel to you, you may need to be careful not to substitute someone else’s presumed feeling for your own. By using your head and your gut, you protect yourself from being manipulated and you will improve the quality of your own decisions.
In any scenario you should always think about negotiation being a “joint problem solving”, instead an adversarial situation.
When negotiating, we are dealing with actual or possible differences with someone else. It doesn’t matter if you are negotiating with your team member, stakeholder, or a vendor, but we want to deal with those differences in a way that leaves us feeling satisfied and that wastes as little time and as few resources as possible.
In negotiation, the power of a personal connection can bridge the gap between “our side” and “theirs”, and in most cases, obligates us to search for an agreement of mutual benefit, and more likely to honor this agreement. We and the other negotiator counterpart may have the same role, but if we never discover our common role if we don’t obtain any personal connection. Personal connection can also act as a safety net in the event that discussion gets tense.
Here are some tips to bridge the gap between “our side” and “theirs”.
1- Arrange to meet in an informal setting before negotiating. It may reduce the danger of miscommunication, and you can watch the other person’s body language, their tone of voice, and the content of the message.
2- When negotiating, sit side by side, if that is reasonably possible.
3- Refer to the importance of their interests, which makes the other party with a feeling of being understood and offers the greatest opportunity to forge a sense of closeness.
4- Emphasize the shared nature of the work you are both facing.
5- Avoid dominating the conversation. Always allow the other party to talk, and meanwhile, be an active listener.
Understanding the physical signals of emotional distance can help you measure the degree of connection between you and another. It can also warn you when you are in danger of overstepping the other’s personal boundaries or getting too close for comfort.
Sometimes, strong personal connections may not be enough to secure a collaborative relationship. It can lead us to make bad decisions. In this case, don’t forget that wise decisions involve both your head and your gut. So, try to understand and separate your head from your gut feeling by asking yourself the following questions:
Head (logical) – What is my BATNA – Best Alternative to Negotiated Agreement? If I don’t reach an agreement, what am I going to do? What would be the costs, schedule, scope, quality impact?
Gut feeling – How am I feeling about committing to this decision? If I say no, how will I feel later (close your eyes, check your guts)? If I say yes, how will I feel later (does this decision feel right? Why?)?
When you are checking with your gut or your intuition to learn how something would feel to you, you may need to be careful not to substitute someone else’s presumed feeling for your own. By using your head and your gut, you protect yourself from being manipulated and you will improve the quality of your own decisions.
In any scenario you should always think about negotiation being a “joint problem solving”, instead an adversarial situation.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
How to use your emotions to negotiate successful agreements - Part 3
As I mention in my previous blog, appreciating others will naturally bring helpful emotions in those to whom we negotiate with.
Finding value in another’s reasoning requires that you actually do see value in it. Honesty is crucial.
If you are having a conflict with someone, find value in their reasoning. Even if you disagree with the other person’s opinion, you can acknowledge their reasons for seeing the subject as they do. They might be motivated by strong feeling, a passionate belief, or a persuasive argument. Regardless, if you disagree with the other person’s opinion try to act as a mediator by putting yourself in the third person. You may say: “I understand [your point of view], and I appreciate [your reasoning or belief].
Rule #1 - Communicate your understanding – Demonstrate your understanding of the value you have found in their opinion. Once you understand their perspective, let them know. Your remarks should be honest. You may say simple things as: “It sounds like you feel worried about this issue and I appreciate your concern, especially knowing that you have worked so hard to get it done……” You may also suggest how upset you might be if it happened to you.
Rule #2 – Show your understanding of what they are saying. If you find that you have stopped listening to the other person, ask yourself. “Am I done or are they done?” In any case, people’s emotions are more likely to be contained if you somehow show them your understanding. For example: Once I had two team members who had a major conflict regarding my project schedule. I listen to both sides and I made sure I understood both views by saying: “Let me see if I understood your concern correctly.” Then I repeated what they said and they acknowledged my understanding. By doing it, I simply decreased their emotional stress and I showed appreciation for their opinions.
When another person feels truly heard, you have valued not only the person’s message but also the person as an individual.
Many people fear that appreciating someone’s point of view is equivalent to agreeing with them. This is not TRUE. Whether or not you agree with someone, you can find value in their reasoning and let them know it. You don’t give up your authority to decide; you can still say the final yes or no, and increase the likely hood that the two of you will be able to work effectively together.
Finding value in another’s reasoning requires that you actually do see value in it. Honesty is crucial.
If you are having a conflict with someone, find value in their reasoning. Even if you disagree with the other person’s opinion, you can acknowledge their reasons for seeing the subject as they do. They might be motivated by strong feeling, a passionate belief, or a persuasive argument. Regardless, if you disagree with the other person’s opinion try to act as a mediator by putting yourself in the third person. You may say: “I understand [your point of view], and I appreciate [your reasoning or belief].
Rule #1 - Communicate your understanding – Demonstrate your understanding of the value you have found in their opinion. Once you understand their perspective, let them know. Your remarks should be honest. You may say simple things as: “It sounds like you feel worried about this issue and I appreciate your concern, especially knowing that you have worked so hard to get it done……” You may also suggest how upset you might be if it happened to you.
Rule #2 – Show your understanding of what they are saying. If you find that you have stopped listening to the other person, ask yourself. “Am I done or are they done?” In any case, people’s emotions are more likely to be contained if you somehow show them your understanding. For example: Once I had two team members who had a major conflict regarding my project schedule. I listen to both sides and I made sure I understood both views by saying: “Let me see if I understood your concern correctly.” Then I repeated what they said and they acknowledged my understanding. By doing it, I simply decreased their emotional stress and I showed appreciation for their opinions.
When another person feels truly heard, you have valued not only the person’s message but also the person as an individual.
Many people fear that appreciating someone’s point of view is equivalent to agreeing with them. This is not TRUE. Whether or not you agree with someone, you can find value in their reasoning and let them know it. You don’t give up your authority to decide; you can still say the final yes or no, and increase the likely hood that the two of you will be able to work effectively together.
Friday, April 9, 2010
How to use your emotions to negotiate successful agreements - Part 2
As I mention in my previous blog, we cannot stop having thoughts or emotions. The challenge is using our emotions with those to whom we negotiate.
One technique I find very powerful is appreciation. Appreciating others will naturally bring helpful emotions in those with whom we negotiate. From CEOs to teachers, diplomats, janitors, everyone wants to be appreciated.
Nowadays we are too worried about our own problems and we may place some obstacles to feel appreciated or appreciate someone. Some of the reasons are because we may fail to understand each other side’s point of view, we argue our own perspective but not learn theirs, or we disagree with what the other person is saying. All the reasons above come naturally, but here are some rules that you can apply to express appreciation to others and get them by your side.
RULE #1- Understand their point of view – To appreciate another person, your first task is to understand how things look and feel in their point of view. You can anticipate their emotions by imagining how you might feel in their shoes.
RULE #2- Active listening - During a negotiation, there are many active listening techniques you can use to improve your understanding of another. Here are some tips:
TIP # 1 - Listen for the “music” as well as the words. It’s important to gather the ambiance that surrounds people whom you are negotiating with, as well as to listen for the mood, character, atmosphere, and emotional tones that put the words into a context.
TIP #2 Listen for meta-messages and tones – As you listen you will notice that sometimes one message is buried inside another. They often suggest whether a person feels supportive, unsure, or resistant to ideas being discussed.
For example: I decided to introduce an idea to speed up my project delivery and present it in a report to the stakeholder’s weekly meeting. Before I did, I showed my report to my boss, my peer, and one of my project team members and they all said the same thing; “I like your report”, but I gathered three different meta-messages or three different tones. When my boss said it, I felt resistance. From my peer I felt a comparative tone, like he was comparing my report to his, and from my team member I felt enthusiasm. And of course, from the stakeholders I felt lack of commitment. But they all said “I like your report”.
Don’t forget that a person’s body language may express something quite different from what they are saying.
So, before you appreciate someone, understand their point of view and listen (feel) what they are saying; you will be surprise with your words and wisdom that will come from your mouth.
One technique I find very powerful is appreciation. Appreciating others will naturally bring helpful emotions in those with whom we negotiate. From CEOs to teachers, diplomats, janitors, everyone wants to be appreciated.
Nowadays we are too worried about our own problems and we may place some obstacles to feel appreciated or appreciate someone. Some of the reasons are because we may fail to understand each other side’s point of view, we argue our own perspective but not learn theirs, or we disagree with what the other person is saying. All the reasons above come naturally, but here are some rules that you can apply to express appreciation to others and get them by your side.
RULE #1- Understand their point of view – To appreciate another person, your first task is to understand how things look and feel in their point of view. You can anticipate their emotions by imagining how you might feel in their shoes.
RULE #2- Active listening - During a negotiation, there are many active listening techniques you can use to improve your understanding of another. Here are some tips:
TIP # 1 - Listen for the “music” as well as the words. It’s important to gather the ambiance that surrounds people whom you are negotiating with, as well as to listen for the mood, character, atmosphere, and emotional tones that put the words into a context.
TIP #2 Listen for meta-messages and tones – As you listen you will notice that sometimes one message is buried inside another. They often suggest whether a person feels supportive, unsure, or resistant to ideas being discussed.
For example: I decided to introduce an idea to speed up my project delivery and present it in a report to the stakeholder’s weekly meeting. Before I did, I showed my report to my boss, my peer, and one of my project team members and they all said the same thing; “I like your report”, but I gathered three different meta-messages or three different tones. When my boss said it, I felt resistance. From my peer I felt a comparative tone, like he was comparing my report to his, and from my team member I felt enthusiasm. And of course, from the stakeholders I felt lack of commitment. But they all said “I like your report”.
Don’t forget that a person’s body language may express something quite different from what they are saying.
So, before you appreciate someone, understand their point of view and listen (feel) what they are saying; you will be surprise with your words and wisdom that will come from your mouth.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
How to use your emotions to negotiate successful agreements - Part 1
We cannot stop having thoughts or emotions. The challenge is using our emotions in those with whom we negotiate.
Negotiations involves both your head and your gut and both reason and emotions. Emotions affect your body, your thinking, and your behavior. Negotiators and diplomats obtain the best results by understanding the other party’s interest and working together to produce and agreement.
Emotions can be an obstacle to negotiation by directing our attention to matters that are not important and damage relationships. But emotions can be a great asset and motivate you do things more efficiently and work jointly with others to increase commitment. When you have positive emotions, you are more open to listening and learning about the other party’s interest, making a mutually satisfying outcome within your reach, as a result, your agreement is more likely to be stable over time.
FIRST RULE: Address the real interest not the emotion.
TIP: When you negotiate with others you should be aware of your current some emotional state and apply the five component criteria: appreciation, inclusion, freedom, importance, and role.
For example: As a project manager, I am always in meetings with my project team or stakeholders. Sometimes I feel like a fireman having to extinguish fires everywhere. But before I enter in meetings, I ask myself these following questions:
1- What do I want accomplish from this meeting? (the final agreement)
2- How do I feel about this meeting? (This applies to your current emotional state; if I feel insecure, apprehensive, fearful, cautious, etc.)
3- Once I recognize my current emotional state, I apply the five component criteria:
- I will appreciate others
- I will include others and welcome their criticism or compliments
- I will feel free to exercise my autonomy
- I will address the real interest and its importance
- I will exercise my role as a project manager
When I usually use these five component criteria, my emotions tend to be more centralized and less scattered, therefore I can concentrate in the real interest.
So, next time you have to negotiate an agreement, run a meeting, ask your wife/husband to do something for you, or buy a new car, think about your emotions first, then use the five component criteria (appreciation, inclusion, freedom, importance, and role), and you’ll see more positive outcome from your actions.
I will talk more about how to use your emotions to negotiate successful agreements in the following blogs to come.
Negotiations involves both your head and your gut and both reason and emotions. Emotions affect your body, your thinking, and your behavior. Negotiators and diplomats obtain the best results by understanding the other party’s interest and working together to produce and agreement.
Emotions can be an obstacle to negotiation by directing our attention to matters that are not important and damage relationships. But emotions can be a great asset and motivate you do things more efficiently and work jointly with others to increase commitment. When you have positive emotions, you are more open to listening and learning about the other party’s interest, making a mutually satisfying outcome within your reach, as a result, your agreement is more likely to be stable over time.
FIRST RULE: Address the real interest not the emotion.
TIP: When you negotiate with others you should be aware of your current some emotional state and apply the five component criteria: appreciation, inclusion, freedom, importance, and role.
For example: As a project manager, I am always in meetings with my project team or stakeholders. Sometimes I feel like a fireman having to extinguish fires everywhere. But before I enter in meetings, I ask myself these following questions:
1- What do I want accomplish from this meeting? (the final agreement)
2- How do I feel about this meeting? (This applies to your current emotional state; if I feel insecure, apprehensive, fearful, cautious, etc.)
3- Once I recognize my current emotional state, I apply the five component criteria:
- I will appreciate others
- I will include others and welcome their criticism or compliments
- I will feel free to exercise my autonomy
- I will address the real interest and its importance
- I will exercise my role as a project manager
When I usually use these five component criteria, my emotions tend to be more centralized and less scattered, therefore I can concentrate in the real interest.
So, next time you have to negotiate an agreement, run a meeting, ask your wife/husband to do something for you, or buy a new car, think about your emotions first, then use the five component criteria (appreciation, inclusion, freedom, importance, and role), and you’ll see more positive outcome from your actions.
I will talk more about how to use your emotions to negotiate successful agreements in the following blogs to come.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
In this economy, it is a common thing to hear about companies cutting project budgets or cutting the entire project. Cutting the project budget will certainly have an effect on the project scope, schedule, and quality, resulting in a poor delivery of a product/service.
It takes more than a talented motivated team to make a successful project, especially if the problem is the budget cut. And, if you are the project manager, the pressure is on you to deliver your project on time, under the agreed scope and quality.
If you work in projectized company, you as a project manager can seek guidance from your Project Manage Office (PMO) business unit. But if your company doesn't have one, or if the existent PMO unit is weak, the odds are you will have to come up with some good ideas to overcome your project obstacles.
Why PMOs are so important to the success of a project? Because they have the project, program and portfolio management best practices, time-to-market acceleration, and quality of your initiatives in a cost-effective manner. These are just few reasons why, as a project manager, you should rely in one.
If you are project manager consultant or contractor, you should consider having your personal portfolio of documents that can help you to solve some of project challenges. Such documents are nothing but project management templates. Good project management templates can and will help you with challenged projects increasing the odds of a successful project, regardless of project type of size.
Here are some of benefits of having the right project management templates.
Reduced cycle time
- Reduced delivery costs
- Improved quality of project deliverables
- Early identification and proactive management of project issues and risks
- Better containment and management of project scope
- More opportunities to leverage and reuse knowledge
- Improved accuracy of estimates
- Better communication with clients and stakeholders
- Improved people and resource management
- Reduced time to get up to speed on new projects. I will be talking more of PMOs and how to setup your own in the following blogs to come.
For now, you can visit http://www.templatespmo.com for more details on templates and how they can help you.
It takes more than a talented motivated team to make a successful project, especially if the problem is the budget cut. And, if you are the project manager, the pressure is on you to deliver your project on time, under the agreed scope and quality.
If you work in projectized company, you as a project manager can seek guidance from your Project Manage Office (PMO) business unit. But if your company doesn't have one, or if the existent PMO unit is weak, the odds are you will have to come up with some good ideas to overcome your project obstacles.
Why PMOs are so important to the success of a project? Because they have the project, program and portfolio management best practices, time-to-market acceleration, and quality of your initiatives in a cost-effective manner. These are just few reasons why, as a project manager, you should rely in one.
If you are project manager consultant or contractor, you should consider having your personal portfolio of documents that can help you to solve some of project challenges. Such documents are nothing but project management templates. Good project management templates can and will help you with challenged projects increasing the odds of a successful project, regardless of project type of size.
Here are some of benefits of having the right project management templates.
Reduced cycle time
- Reduced delivery costs
- Improved quality of project deliverables
- Early identification and proactive management of project issues and risks
- Better containment and management of project scope
- More opportunities to leverage and reuse knowledge
- Improved accuracy of estimates
- Better communication with clients and stakeholders
- Improved people and resource management
- Reduced time to get up to speed on new projects. I will be talking more of PMOs and how to setup your own in the following blogs to come.
For now, you can visit http://www.templatespmo.com for more details on templates and how they can help you.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Is your project in trouble?
In this economy, it is a common thing to hear about companies cutting project budgets or cutting the entire project. Cutting the project budget will certainly have an effect on the project scope, schedule, and quality, resulting in a poor delivery of a product/service. It takes more than a talented motivated team to make a successful project, especially if the problem is the budget cut. And, if you are the project manager, the pressure is on you to deliver your project on time, under the agreed scope and quality.
If you work in projectized company, you as a project manager can seek guidance from your Project Manage Office (PMO) business unit. But if your company doesn't have one, or if the existent PMO unit is weak, the odds are you will have to come up with some good ideas to overcome your project obstacles.
Why PMOs are so important to the success of a project? Because they have the project, program and portfolio management best practices, time-to-market acceleration, and quality of your initiatives in a cost-effective manner. These are just few reasons why, as a project manager, you should rely in one.
If you are project manager consultant or contractor, you should consider having your personal portfolio of documents that can help you to solve some of project challenges. Such documents are nothing but project management templates. Good project management templates can and will help you with challenged projects increasing the odds of a successful project, regardless of project type of size. Here are some of benefits of having the right project management templates.
- Reduced cycle time
- Reduced delivery costs
- Improved quality of project deliverables
- Early identification and proactive management of project issues and risks
- Better containment and management of project scope
- More opportunities to leverage and reuse knowledge
- Improved accuracy of estimates
- Better communication with clients and stakeholders
- Improved people and resource management
- Reduced time to get up to speed on new projects
I will be talking more about PMOs and how to setup your own in the following blogs to come. For now, you can visit http://www.templatespmo.com/ for more details on templates and how they can help you.
Giana
If you work in projectized company, you as a project manager can seek guidance from your Project Manage Office (PMO) business unit. But if your company doesn't have one, or if the existent PMO unit is weak, the odds are you will have to come up with some good ideas to overcome your project obstacles.
Why PMOs are so important to the success of a project? Because they have the project, program and portfolio management best practices, time-to-market acceleration, and quality of your initiatives in a cost-effective manner. These are just few reasons why, as a project manager, you should rely in one.
If you are project manager consultant or contractor, you should consider having your personal portfolio of documents that can help you to solve some of project challenges. Such documents are nothing but project management templates. Good project management templates can and will help you with challenged projects increasing the odds of a successful project, regardless of project type of size. Here are some of benefits of having the right project management templates.
- Reduced cycle time
- Reduced delivery costs
- Improved quality of project deliverables
- Early identification and proactive management of project issues and risks
- Better containment and management of project scope
- More opportunities to leverage and reuse knowledge
- Improved accuracy of estimates
- Better communication with clients and stakeholders
- Improved people and resource management
- Reduced time to get up to speed on new projects
I will be talking more about PMOs and how to setup your own in the following blogs to come. For now, you can visit http://www.templatespmo.com/ for more details on templates and how they can help you.
Giana
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