“It is the strangest thing. They are such a nice bunch of people. Mary Carol was told by Joe, the project sponsor, that each one of them is highly recommended. However, nothing seems to be happening.” He explained that he thought this was a simple task that the team could manage themselves. Now I realize that maybe I need you to do some project management magic.
Mary Carol sighed inwardly. She sighed and thought, “You think you could just try to manage a project without organization and direction and prove that project managing is unnecessary?” This wasn’t the first time Mary Carol had been assigned to work with a team that was supposed be self-managing.
She shadowed Joe initially as he met up with the team. She agreed that they were a friendly group of people. Joe spoke with them about how important they were for the company and how valuable their work was to their customers. They were enthusiastic. Mary Carol made an important observation during the second meeting. Joe did not specify what the team was supposed produce. It was not clear when it would be finished or which customer group it would be used for.
Mary Carol asked Joe after the second meeting if he would allow her to try something during the next one. She asked Joe if she could interview him about the new product. He explained that he had been discussing the product with them for several weeks and that they should be fully informed. She refused to give up. He rolled his eyes and exasperatedly sighed, saying, “Fine. Let’s try it our way, YOU’RE a big project management expert.”
Mary Carol spoke with each member of the team before the meeting. Mary Carol asked each member of the team to create a list of questions about their project. She asked the analyst to bring along a notebook and be ready to take notes. This would help her to create an initial scope statement. Joe apologized to the group at the beginning of the meeting and said that he regretted wasting their time. Mary Carol wanted to ask him questions. Mary Carol began and then handed the questions over to the group. Everyone in the room was given an opportunity to ask questions. The analyst had a lot of data that he could use to create a scope statement after the meeting was over. Joe was shocked. Joe was shocked. We thought you were collaborating with us on future product development and not trying to launch a project.
Your team members can’t read your mind so tell them what you expect.
