Going beyond project management to guarantee project success
I’m going to share a little secret with you all… it took me over three years to finally get my book, The Connected Campus, published, despite 80 per cent of the content being written in the first 3 months of working on it.
Terrible project management and delivery, huh?
Well, actually no. On paper I had the most robust project plan set out to have it written, edited and published within 9 months. There was nothing unachievable or unrealistic about it. The work packages made sense. The timeline was spot on. So, what happened?
When the only thing in the way is oneself
I happened. That’s what. I got in my own way for guaranteeing project success. I didn’t stall because I lacked the skill or the plan. I didn’t stall because I had planned it poorly. I didn’t stall because I wasn’t committed to succeeding. I stalled because I let my own “stuff” get in the way:
Perfectionism had me stalled because I wouldn’t let myself publish something that didn’t feel “perfect”
Imposter syndrome had me stalled because I was afraid other content folk would think it was sub-par
Obligation had me stalled because I would constantly put everybody else’s projects and needs before my own
Diminishing self-worth had me stalled because I would tell myself “well nobody really wants to read it anyway”
Need-to-know had me stalled because I get afraid of doing things that I don’t already know how to do
Vulnerability had me stalled because showing my work and my knowledge this way was to expose myself and run the risk of being outed as a fraud
Martyrdom had me stalled because I revel in gooey warmth of putting it all upon myself (and then begrudge people for not giving the help and support that I haven’t actually even asked for)
Prediction and historical “proof” had me stalled because past failures were telling me that this wouldn’t be a success too, that failure was just how things go for me so why even bother trying?
On doing and being
None of these reasons for stalling and almost failing to publish at all had anything at all to do with the project plan and the work packages. I could have project managed the s**t out of that book, but what I really needed was to take a long hard look not at what I was doing or not doing, but instead to have a breakthrough in how I was being about the book. And when I shifted that, everything changed.
I was being resigned, resentful, pessimistic, at effect of others, trapped in story-land of predictions. I was being a perfectionist. I was being self-diminishing. I was being uncommitted. I was being slippery about progress, and completely cloak-and-dagger in hiding away the lack of progress, beautifully and skilfully evading any sense of accountability to the commitment I’d made to myself and the world to publishing this book. And my relationship to time had me totally stuck in an either/or story (either I can do this or I can do that, but not both).
None of it was serving me. And the thing I really wanted was in danger of never getting done.
Instead of project managing my way to success, I realised that what I needed was coaching to help me get out of my own way. So that’s what I did. I turned to my coach and my coaching community to support me to do the work on myself that I needed to do to unravel the stops that had me stalled.
My story is everybody’s story
I could have shared this story with you or a billion others. Because when projects stall or fail - my projects or yours - it’s rarely because of what we’re doing or not doing, but often because of how we’re being about it.
And while we regularly invest in project management skills and support to keep us on track with what we’re doing in a project, how often do we invest in the skills and support to help us bust up the blocks in how we’re being about a project?
Project success for teams
This is where my work as a coach can really support teams and individuals in getting the tasks in hand actually done, and in achieving project success. In my work with individuals, groups and teams, I bring my experience as a highly trained leadership coach to shine a light on how we’re getting in our own way in achieving project success.
Take a look in your team… what’s predictable for how it goes in your teams and on your projects?
Coaching questions for project success
To finish, I offer some questions that you can bring to your projects to really take a look at how you’re being about the project and to see where you might be getting in your own way as a team.
How does it go when “circumstances” conspire to throw us off track?
How does it go when stakeholders derail our projects?
How do we relate to those circumstances? Are they annoying barriers or beautiful opportunities?
How are we being about time pressures and resource conflicts? Do we stop at “it’s impossible”? Or do we ask “what possibility can we create from here”?
Where are we drifting?
Where are we hiding?
Where are we kicking something down the road?
How are we needlessly condition stacking (“I can only do that after this, this and this has happened first”)?
How clear are we in our big “what for” that this is all really about? For our organisation? For our team? For ourselves as individuals?
How are we mistaking “we don’t know how” to mean “we can’t”?
In what ways are our projects and our decisions being guided by our fears instead of empowerment?
How are we keeping ourselves stuck in the past instead of creating the future?
What stories from the past are preventing us from making progress and creating success?
And, of course, I am also available for you to hire as your coach to help coach you through the barriers and stops that you face in your projects.
So, next time you’re planning your project, why not also plan in coaching support to help keep you on track and accountable, and to create even more breakthroughs in how you work as a team than just “we got the thing done”?
Coaching support from Pickle Jar Communications
We offer a range of coaching support options to propel your success. From individual 1-2-1 leadership coaching, to team coaching, project-based coaching, and group coaching sessions. Chat to us about your goals, and we’ll suggest how we can support you.
Join our 8-week group coaching programme for aspiring leaders
Our next group coaching programme starts on 12 May 2021 and costs just £599 + VAT. Join us.