The Vanilla Consultant

Advertisement [Contact Us](mailto:contactus@projectmanagement.com) [About Us]( [Update Profile]( April 12, 2017 Is consulting right for you? Plus, as our month-long theme continues, we share three ways to use your project skills and warn you about the dangers of vanilla. Plus, lessons from weather forecasters and the danger of having to be right. Our Knowledge Shelf learns PM lessons from hip-hop, while our Topic Teasers deal with confusing priorities. Our blogs share 5 steps to manage dependencies, while readers ask for advice on leadership styles and mentoring skills in our forums. Plus, [sign up for PMXPO 2017]( Advertisement Recognizing the 12 Failure Modes in Agile Transformation Agile may be simple, but it still takes work. Often, organizations fail to adopt agile methods for similar reasons, and many of these reasons are cultural. [Read this eBook]( to learn how you can move beyond just implementing agile principles within your groups to actually achieving business agility. "As long as my voice is here, and there is a Holiday Inn waiting for me, then everything's just swell." - Tiny Tim []PM HEADLINES [Life in the PM Consulting Lane: Is It Right for You?]( There are roughly three options for pursuing a career as a PM consultant. Is this path right for you? Regardless of the path you choose to follow, there are some success factors you need to be aware of. [3 Ways to Use Your Project Skills in Consulting]( Starting a consulting business is an exciting opportunity for accomplished project managers. Let’s consider three ways you can apply project skills to start a consulting business and develop your career… [The Scourge of the 'Vanilla' Consultant]( Project management and consulting go hand in hand, but not all consultant PMs are created equal. So why do so many of them try to convince us otherwise? [Weather Forecasters: Terrific Project Managers]( Like project managers, weather forecasters predict, or forecast, what will happen in the future. But they have an advantage over most PMs when it comes to estimating future uncertainties. Weather forecasters forecast the future more than they predict the future, and forecasts are superior to predictions for aligning stakeholder expectations and improving stakeholder decision making. [Wanting to Be Right Is Wrong]( Project managers have a responsibility to their teams to be a leader, and leaders put pressure on themselves to be mistake-free. But having to be "right" all the time is a detriment, not a benefit. Here are some ways to deal with the want or need to be right… [PMXPO 2017!]( It's our anniversary! ProjectManagement.com is proud to bring you the 10th edition of PMXPO, its annual virtual conference and exhibition--led by keynote speaker Alison Levine, the first American Women's Everest Expedition Team Captain and a bestselling author! It's your opportunity to learn, network, earn 6 PDUs and gain valuable knowledge. Sign up today for the free April 27 event! "I think there's a great beauty to having problems. That's one of the ways we learn." - Herbie Hancock [Stop Consulting Around the Problem]( Consultants can help address many issues…but problems arise when consultants consult around the problem instead of directly overcoming and impacting the issue that needs to be addressed. [The Drive for Connected Vehicle Consultants]( Connected vehicles are one area of emerging technologies projected to grow significantly over the next five years. Most organizations will not have this knowledge internally. They will go outside and look for consultants to fill the knowledge gap on projects and programs that are designed to develop the organization’s connected vehicle business abilities. []KNOWLEDGE SHELF [Workmageddon: Project Management]( Project management is the application of tools, know-how and skills needed to accomplish project activities, satisfy stakeholders and make a little money, too. These skills are particularly valuable to entrepreneurs in a wide variety of fields. What can entrepreneurs in the hip-hop business teach us about project management? [Fast Tracking: A Special Area of Risk Management]( Fast tracking can shorten a project’s schedule or easily cause rework to be required. It is of utmost importance to carefully weigh the risks prior to deciding whether or not fast tracking is the right option for the project. A quantitative estimate for calculating the monetary value translates the risk into hard currency. The mission of [Knowledge Shelf]( to help project professionals advance our practice by sharing their experiences and viewpoints. It is comprised of practitioners from a wide range of fields, covering both popular and niche topics. From lessons learned and case studies to opinion pieces and articles, this platform gives a voice to peers new to our online community, and allows for longer form contributions. For more information on how to submit your own article, please see our [Editorial Guidelines](. []TOPIC TEASERS Welcome to Topic Teasers, which tests your managerial prowess every other week! In Vol. 94, we offer help in [Clearing Confusing Priorities]( Question: Whether I’m working on an agile or a waterfall project, we always get an overload of features or activities to complete. In theory, it sounds easy to prioritize them; but in practice, that’s where most of our projects bog down. Defining the order becomes a politely disguised free-for-all. At the end, while we may be able to set up the project, I’m still not convinced that we have made the best long-term choices for the company in our selection of which items we have elected to implement. Is there a fresh way to handle these decisions? A. The manager or product owner who pays for the project always has the final vote. Even if you know he or she is missing important viewpoints, you should accept those decisions and work your hardest to make them deliverable. If it goes astray, it’s not your problem. B. A business analysis tool, the Purpose Alignment Model, may be a fresh insight for your management and your team into which items on a Scrum Backlog or a project management plan should be prioritized and which should be done with a minimal amount of cost and effort. Try this fresh approach for a new view of your project work. C. Rapid application development (RAD), which uses fourth-generation languages and frameworks such as low-code development web applications, is a technique one can use across all industries and on all types of projects. Get a clearer look about the value of each product feature by switching to RAD. D. Some purposeful activities in modern corporations are not appropriate for project management techniques. Only governmental and not-for-profit entities can gain value by their use, since the need to get a profit or any return on investment is limited in these types of organizational structures. Check the answer [here]( and [send in your own question for consideration]( []THE PM POLL Is there a question you've been itching to ask? Did you know that ProjectManagement.com members have a community at their fingertips? [Create a poll]( today to get some PM help from your peers! [Q: What is the most frequent method you use to gain new skills and knowledge?]( - Reading online resources/blogs/books, subscribing to portals/newsletters - Training classes (instructor-led, online, virtual) - Networking sites (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc.) - Attending conferences - On the job - Webinars, podcasts and wikis - Job shadowing/job sharing TOOL SPOTLIGHT PPM: [Mavenlink]( [Search for your solution on our Tool Finder]( []BLOG IT Voices on Project Management by Christian Bisson & Marian Haus Marian shares [5 Simple Steps to Manage Project Dependencies]( that are spread across teams, departments and assets. Plus, Christian notes that documentation doesn’t need to be a pain. It just needs to be relevant, easy to find and reliable. [Are You Documenting Smartly?]( PMI Global Insights by Karen Chovan Engagement. One of the primary keys to determining all of your project requirements. A way to bring people together to collaboratively solve the challenges your project may be tasked with. A way to energize your workforce. But is there ever [Too Much Engagement?]( Game Theory in Management by Michael Hatfield Like stand-up comedians who spend too much time ridiculing television commercials, Michael doesn't want to fall into the trap of making fun of consultants too often. True, they’ve been known to be wrong (oops...there he goes again!). [Pros and Consultants]( has more. Wish I Had Me When I Was You... by Laura Barnard What do you all have in common? You have a never-ending list of things that you need to do on a daily basis. Trust her, Laura gets it…her list never ends! That's why she offers this reminder: [Perfection is the Enemy Progress](. PM Network by Dan Goldfischer The April cover story looks at cutting-edge technology taking hold in the world of building buildings. According to the story, 3-D building information modeling (BIM) is a prized tool for a new generation of construction project managers who use it to improve communication and reduce risks. [Dan shares more about the latest issue](. The Critical Path by Carrie Dunn We are excited to announce the ProjectManagement.com [April Book Club]( The book club provides an opportunity to participate in webinars and discussions around selected books relevant to the overall practice of project management. []Q & A Did you know that help is just a click away? Our discussion forums give you access to the ProjectManagement.com community: more than 500,000 experienced minds and growing! Take advantage of their expertise...your question could be posted here for even more exposure to our vast readership. Pose your question today or stop by to help out other members in need of advice, including these recent and ongoing discussions on... [Measuring Individual Performance]( "How do you evaluate individual performance on a project?" [Which Leadership Style Are You?]( "Which theory or description of leadership style (servant, democratic, charismatic, transformational, situational, etc.) best describes you?" [Mentoring Skills]( "What mentoring skills does a project manager need to have in order to develop the project team and upgrade and enhance the knowledge of all the members in the project team?" [Indispensable Team Member Traits]( "If you were building a team and could hand pick its members, what are the key traits or attributes you would look for? In other words, what makes a team member valuable and indispensable?" [Help Establishing a New PMO]( "I am part of a small team that was charged with setting up a PMO. I am interested in connecting with others who have gone through this process themselves and would be willing to share their thoughts, advice and lessons learned." "I always found that drama, really good drama, has a lot of comedy in it." - Ed O'Neill []PREMIUM PICKS Did you know that [PMI membership]( gives you access to our extensive library of PDU-earning webinars? Here's just one of the latest valuable offerings you can check out! [Strategy Execution and the PMO]( Linking strategy thinking with "doing" presents a huge opportunity for project management--both as a discipline and a profession--to uniquely meet the strategy execution challenge. It is within this context that PMOs can step up to the plate and bridge the gap between crafting and delivering. As always, your feedback and suggestions are welcome. How can we make your experience better? Is there something you haven't been able to find? Something you want to see that we don't have yet? [Let us know](mailto:cameron@projectmanagement.com). We'll handle it. 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