Catch Dr. James Brown at Nexus

Just a quick note for PM’s in the Pacific Northwest.  Dr. James Brown is conducting a class on conflict management at the Nexus conference in Seattle (Bellevue, WA) on Wednesday, November 2^nd.  I’ve been doing project and program management all over the world for the better part of 15 years and this guy is worth checking out.  Yes he has a PhD, is a published author, worked for NASA and all of that, but more importantly, he knows his subject matter as good or better than anyone in the business.  His teaching methodology and project management philosophy achieve the right balance between ‘the book’, best practices and common sense.  He also has a strong focus on human behavior and what that means in the context of project management. There are teachers and speakers, and then there are the people that you make sure to see every time they are in town.  Dr. Brown is one of the latter.  I encourage you to take the opportunity to go see him and take his class at the Nexus conference.

 

Gene Echkart
Program Manager
ImageSource Inc.

Nexus is Coming!

The ImageSource NEXUS ECM conference is fast approaching.  NEXUS is a unique opportunity for you to discover:

• How companies lever ECM beyond traditional Account Payable Invoice processes
• Lean about Enterprise Content Management industry trends (Cloud, Mobile Technologies, Social Media, to name a few)
• Invaluable opportunities to meeting and collaborate with industry peers
• Attend certified educational seminars
• View current ECM related technologies
• Participate in one on one sessions with industry technical and business experts
• Hear about using ECM as a tactical advantage is solving today’s business issues

All this as well as the ability to earn industry accreditations:

1. Project Management Professionals (up to 20 PDU’s)
2. Certified Records Managers (10 ICRM CMP Credits)
3. Healthcare Professionals (16 AHIMA Credits)
4. Accounts Payable Processionals (IAPP Credits)
5. Business Analysts (IIBA Credits)
6. American Payroll Association (3.5 RCHs)

NEXUS is a conference you can’t afford to miss!

Hope to see you there.

 

NEXUS 2011
November 3 – 4, 2011
Meydenbauer Convention Center, Bellevue Washington
To learn more: www.nexusecm.com

 

David MacWatters
ImageSource, Inc

 

Exciting BPM Workflow Discovery Workshop

If you have a Business Process Management (BPM) workflow project coming up soon, don’t miss the Nexus 2011 conference in Bellevue, Washington on November 3^rd and 4^th.  One of our teams is conducting a BPM workflow discovery workshop that is built entirely on audience participation.  It’s the Business Process Management – Discovery & Problem Resolution Strategy Workshop scheduled for Friday morning (4^th).  It’s a two session workshop and we’re going to take audience members (PM’s, SE’s and BA’s) to form a project team.  We’ll provide them with a business case scenario with BPM workflow requirements and then facilitate them working through the discovery process.  We’ll make sure that they run into lots of the common challenges we see on BPM workflow projects and then watch to see how they sort it out.  It’s a serious subject and we will share best practices approaches to solving these common problems, but we intend to have as much fun as we can in the process!  We look forward to seeing you there and having you participating as part of our workshop project team.  Don’t miss it!

Gene Eckhart
Program Manager
ImageSource, Inc

Work-Life Balance

I read an article today written by Dr. James T. Brown, SEBA® Solutions. I subscribe to his newsletter. It really made me reflect on some things in my career.

When I was just starting my career as a manager my mentor said to me “if you are spending day after day working long hours, you are doing it wrong”. Until I started working in my new role as a manager it really did not sink in what he was trying to tell me. At first I tried to “do it all”.

I finally awakened to the fact that I would soon burn out if I continued down that path.

The biggest thing I learned early on that helped with this balancing act was learning to delegate. Giving the people I worked with an opportunity to grow. Providing them with the tools and knowledge to be successful and at the same time allowing them to make mistakes. Some of the best lessons learned come from the times when we make mistakes. I have certainly had my share of learnings through that method. Mike’s comments in the article regarding delegation helped solidify my thoughts on the topic.

To see Dr. Brown’s article that sparked my thoughts today go to: “The Truth About Work-Life Balance” by Dr. James T. Brown

Dr. Brown will also be a keynote speaker at ImageSource Nexus ’11.

Regards,

Al Senzamici, PMP
Program Manager
ImageSource, Inc.

  

Imation Acquires the Assets of ProStor Systems

For those of you who have been working with ProStor and the InfiniVauilt technology… on August 29, 2011, Imation Corp. announced that it has acquired the multi-tiered storage system assets of Boulder, Colo.-based ProStor Systems. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Many of you were able to meet with Richard Coons from ProStor at recent ImageSource Nexus events held in Bellevue, Washington. Richard Coons has extensive knowledge on the InfiniVault products and  is now Sales Western at Imation.

ProStor’s InfiniVault technology allows companies to manage fixed digital assets, including videos, images, documents and other types of large, static data files.

“Imation acquired the InfiniVault technology and product line because we recognize the need to add a compelling tiered storage architecture to our existing portfolio of backup and archiving products,” said Imation CEO Mark Lucas.

To see the full acquisition announcement go to  http://www.imation.com/en-us/About-Imation/News/# .

Al Senzamici, PMP
Program Manager
ImageSource, Inc.

  

Nexus ’10 – Hot Topic Suggestions to “Ignite Your Information”

Well, Nexus ’09 is over and it was another great event. It was such a great event people began  registering for Nexus ’10 before we even started tearing down the booths and equipment.  The new year is here and the ImageSource team is already hard at work getting ready for Nexus 2010. The venue and date have been set. It is in beautiful downtown Bellevue, Washington at the Meydenbauer Center on November 4-5, 2010. The ImageSource team is already looking at prospective keynote speakers, presenters, making all the arrangements for fun and entertainment, and looking at the hottest topics that will truly ignite this year’s event!

We have a host of  management and technical tracks that we deliver every year. Year after year the management and technical tracks continue to attract more attention and excitement. These tracks have significant value for many individuals. There is wide variety of topic focus for Executives and Directors, IT Specialists, System Engineers, Project Managers, Records Managers, Business Analysts and Technology users. For those who hold a Project Management Institute (PMI)  certification like PMP, CAPM, PgMP, PMI-SP or PMI-RMP it is a great way to earn Professional Development Units (PDUs). It is our goal to provide you with relevant and timely information about Enterprise Content Management that you can take home and start using in your business and even personal life. 

That’s where you come in.

We are looking for your suggestions on the hottest topics out there that you have interest in? What is significant from a management and technical standpoint in the Enterprise Content Management space that you want to hear and talk about with your colleagues in the ECM industry? What is going on in the ECM industry that you feel will light up the sessions and discussions? What do you have a burning desire to know more about?

Even if you don’t plan to attend Nexus ’10 (and you would be foolish not to),  we would still like to hear what you think the “hottest topics” are in Enterprise Content Management from a technical and management perspective. Let us hear your comments and suggestions so we can make Nexus ’10 the hottest it has ever been.

Don’t forget to register too!

Nexus ’10 Registration

 

Al Senzamici, PMP
Program Manager
ImageSource, Inc.

ECM Best Practices – Green Support

Enterprise Content Management Solutions
– Remote and Mobile Employees

Many of today’s business discussions revolve around the fact that providing select employees with the ability to work from home, in a mobile environment, or otherwise more independently, is a positive factor towards fostering conservation and a “GREEN” initiative.  Considering the integrated component benefits of a well conceived and implemented Enterprise Content Management System (ECM), with the right employees selected for a remote work environment, this green initiative can also promote a highly efficient and productive business environment.

Employees that successfully work from home or on the road as much as they do in the office are likely characterized by desirable core competencies.  This is nothing new and these strong employee qualities have always been required of the person working independently from constant co-worker and management relationships and support. 

Successful remote employees are oriented towards achieving results, and as such, as a group they can be described as being self-motivated, self-disciplined, and as self-sufficient as their supporting infrastructure will allow them to be.   “Remote” employees very often maintain a strong client focus and spend a lot of time working at client sites, communicating with clients, and seeking new clients. 

In order to give the successful remote employee the best opportunity to be as productive as they can be, and promote an organization’s green initiative,  that organization can develop the information management and communications infrastructure that fosters collaboration and information self service.  This also prepares an organization to address the current business trend towards more remote employees.  This developed business structure can also support instances where employees are able to work, but have to do that work away from the office due to illness, convalescence, family emergency, transportation problems, etc.

In addition to the infrastructure, it is important to implement a training program so that these resources are known to the remote employees and they are well trained in making the most of them.

The following are among those driving guidelines that support effective mobile and remote employees:

• Digital information and content are increasingly pervasive and require well developed broadband technologies and services.  Remote employees must be provided with required independent information access and research needed for commercial, client, and business awareness.  ECM Benefits contributing towards a green initiative and remote employee support include:
  • ECM – Customer and business information access through web based document and image management
  • ECM – Research and document re-purposing through web based document management
  • ECM – Work and transaction processing continuation through web based workflow processing
• Group and teamwork oriented communications channels are instrumental to effective and collaboration between the remote employee, clients, co-workers, and management, and to providing effective remote presentation resources.  Integration of Collaboration Management and web based meeting services with compatible ECM systems provides a productive team environment contributing to a focused energy and natural resource conservation effort.
• Businesses (and individuals) must effectively communicate on the move and be supported by personal mobile communication technology and web services.  Personal mobile devices now provide a technology that not only communicates between people, but also communicates information to people using compatible web based Enterprise Content Management systems.
• Data submission and resolution tool resources allowing for information communication and independent problem solving must be provided to the remote employee dependent upon business type and objectives.  Digital Forms Processing and Management systems, a major component of many ECM systems, can provide effective solutions.

Neil W. Lindsey
Project Manager / Senior Business Analyst
ImageSource, Inc.

Attend the following GREEN oriented sessions at
NEXUS 2009, November 2nd, 3rd, 2009, Bellevue,
Washington

Finding the PR Value in your Green ECM Technology
Reducing Your Organization’s Cost and Carbon
Footprint Through Inter-Office Scanning
Economical & Environmental Benefits of eForms

Managing Project Teams – Guidelines for Giving and Receiving Feedback

Guidelines for Constructive Criticism/Feedback

In the course of managing our projects there comes a time in our personal interactions where the project manager will have to provide feedback and may even have to say something negative to the person they are dealing with. There may also be the case where they have to say something negative to say to you. I prefer to call it constructive criticism/feedback rather than negative but many people refer to it as negative. You may find that many people become embarrassed, distressed, and even angered by this criticism/feedback. Too often relationships can become strained and work can even be disrupted. However, there are some people who are able to transform these moments into opportunities for success. They are able to take this information and enhance their work skills, relationships and continue to advance, develop and grow professionally.

The Guidelines:

1.       Acknowledge the need for criticism/feedback

It is the main way to know what things need to improve. It is vital to the success of the project team and its members. Giving and receiving criticism/feedback should become the “culture” of the project team.

It is very important that the team should agree that giving and receiving feedback is an acceptable part of how you will work together and continuously improve as a team.

 2.       Provide both positive and negative criticism/feedback

“Catch” people doing things right as well as when something goes wrong. Reward and remember to tell people when they are doing things right. You want that to continue. People will be more receptive to your negative comments if they have also been accustomed to your positive comments. It shows that you are truly trying to work towards improvement.

 3.       Understand the context

Before proving feedback be sure you review the actions and decisions that led up to the event that you will be providing feedback on. Understand the circumstances completely.

 4.       Know when to give feedback

Determine when the moment is right. Are you ready to give the criticism? Is the person ready to hear it?

Do not give feedback when:

• You don’t know a lot about the circumstances
• You don’t care about the person or will not be around long enough to follow up on the aftermath of your feedback
• The feedback, either positive or negative, is about something the person does not have the power to change
• Your purpose is not really improvement
• The time , place, or circumstances are inappropriate, i.e. you are angry or others are around

5.       Know how to give feedback

Use a tool like:

When you [do this], I feel [this way], because [of such]. What I would like you to consider is [doing X], because I think it will accomplish [Y]. What do you think?

Example:

When you are late for meetings, I get angry because I think it is wasting the time of other team members. I would like you to consider finding a way to better planning your schedule so you can get to meetings on time. This way our meetings can be more productive and we are not wasting the time of others. What do you think?

• Be descriptive - give specific examples
• Don’t use labels – avoid labels like unprofessional, irresponsible, and immature. Describe the specific behavior and drop the label.
• Don’t exaggerate - To say “You are always late for deadlines” may not entirely accurate.
• Don’t be judgmental - Don’t use words like “good”, “better”, “bad” or “should”. You don’t want to appear to be in the role of a parent.
• Speak for yourself – Don’t refer to absent or other people. Don’t use comments like “a lot of people here don’t like it when you….”
• Talk first about yourself, not the other person - People become defensive with that usage. Use phrases like “I feel annoyed when you are late for meetings” rather than “You are frequently late for meetings”.
• Phrase the issue as a statement not a question – Use statements like “I feel annoyed when you are late to meetings” rather than “when are you going to stop being late for meetings”. Most people become defensive and angry with a question. The use of an “I” statement implies “I think we have an issue we must resolve together.”
• Restrict your feedback to things you know for certain – Speak of what you have seen and heard not what you feel and want. Don’t present opinions as facts.
• Help people hear and accept your compliments when giving positive feedback – Some people tend to feel awkward about positive feedback. Reinforce positive feedback even when the person says “it was no big deal”.

 6.       Know how to receive feedback

There may be times when you will receive feedback from someone who does not know the guidelines. Help your critic provide the feedback by asking “What did I say or do to dissatisfy you?” then take it from there.

When reacting to feedback:

• Breathe – Taking full deep breaths forces you to relax and allows the brain to stay alert.
• Listen carefully – don’t interrupt. Don’t discourage the criticism.
• Ask questions for clarity – ask for specific examples if you don’t get them.
• Acknowledge the feedback – repeat back what you heard in your own words so the person knows you understood.
• Acknowledge valid points – agree with what is true and what is possible. That does not necessarily mean you agree to change the behavior.
• Sort out what you have heard – you may need to take some time to sort out what you have heard before responding. Check with others if needed. However, don’t use this as an excuse to avoid the feedback.
• Don’t be defensive – take the feedback for just what it is feedback. Do not try to defend or justify yourself on each point. Again, just listen.

Al Senzamici, PMP
Program Manager
ImageSource, Inc.

Mister Rogers and Project Management

Once in a great while a speaker tells you something that sticks with you, and really helps you improve your game. Several years ago at a Project Management Institute dinner I heard Carl Pritchard tell a story that has helped me many times.

Early in Carl’s career he had a job hosting a local radio show. He periodically interviewed writers hawking their books. Now, authors can be egotistical individuals with a need to be pampered. Before the interview Carl would go through a routine to make sure that they had their drink, a comfy seat, and whatever other “strokes” they needed to be happy.

One day he was interviewing none other than Fred Rogers—that’s Mister Rogers to most of us—who was on a book tour. Carl was prepared to be unimpressed. I mean, how uncool is it to be a radio show host in your twenties interviewing the host of a sappy kiddy show?

When Fred Rogers came into the studio to get set up for their 45 minute interview, Carl started going through the process of making sure he was taken care of: “Here’s your seat, Mister Rogers. Can I get you something to drink, Mister Rogers?”

At this point, his guest stopped him. “Carl,” said Mister Rogers, “I’m fine. My concern is what you need. My question is where would you like to be in forty five minutes?”

He had asked a question that cut to the core issue and showed his empathy: What is it that you need during the course of this interview?

Carl was taken aback by this question from Fred Rogers. For the next few minutes they discussed what the host would like out of the interview, rather than pampering the guest. The interview that Carl had been unexcited about, went very well. At the end of forty five minutes he was genuinely sad to see his new friend, Mister Rogers, leave. You can bet that Carl’s tone about Fred Roger’s book during the interview was much more positive than if he had gone in with his initial attitude.

Now imagine that we applied the Mister Rogers principle to these situations:

• A Project Planning Kickoff Meeting where the Project Manager asks various stakeholders: “Where would you like to be at the end of this project?”
• An early sales call where the Account Representative asks the prospect, “Where would you like to be at the end of this process?”
• A contentious call with a customer over a problem where the tech support representative asks, “Where would you like to be at the end of this call?”

You may not be able to take the customer exactly where they want to be, but if you hear it in their words you have a much better idea of their target and can work toward reaching it. Not to mention just asking the question lets the other party know that you do have their interests in mind. If you don’t ask, you’re guessing at what they truly want and they’re wondering if you care at all about their needs.

I’ve found this tool to be particularly useful in defusing conflict during a project. If I stop a contentious discussion, and ask “Where would you like to be….” I can get to the core of the matter and try to work out a solution that meets both the needs of the project and the needs of that individual. At the very least, I give them a chance to air their concern.

As Carl Pritchard illustrated in the story about his experience interviewing Fred Rogers, if you want to have a beautiful day in your own neighborhood, stop and ask the question, “Where do you want to be?”

Guest Blogger Dennis Brooke is a former Program Manager for ImageSource and Optika. He currently manages systems development for Naverus, a leading edge provider of performance based navigation services for the aviation industry (www.naverus.com). He will be speaking on Enterprise Web 2.0 and Project Management at Nexus 09 (www.nexusecm.com) Nov. 2-3 in Bellevue, Washington. Reach him at dennis.brooke@comcast.net.

  

ECM Best Practices: Training – How much is too much, how much is not enough?

How much is too much, how much is not enough?  That is the proverbial question. Often times when project budgets are being developed, training is a secondary consideration. Sometimes it’s not considered at all.  When you’re working with customers helping them to determine what kinds of training and how much should be included, the first thing should be clearly identifying what your objectives are (and qualifying them with the most affected stakeholder – the end users). At times you will find the answer to that question to be very different coming from the project sponsor vs. the End User management team, vs. the End Users themselves. Your ‘objectives’ often transcend the simple task of selecting classes. Hence, the need to clarify with all of your stakeholders…

First, who are your stakeholders in training?  The End Users are obvious.  What about Team Leads?  IT Support (i.e. desktop support, server support, and help desk)? Application Support (administrative and end user)? Change Management teams? What about your Project Sponsor? The list can go on and on.   How much is too much, how much is not enough?

Second, what are your budgetary constraints? Within your project budget, you may have a line item for training, or even a separate line item for training for different phases of the project. This is the money originally allocated by the sponsor. How that money is spent may be rigidly defined, or it may be simply a line item budget number to be used at your discretion. With a little probing, you may be able to determine that ‘other monies’ are available from different budget codes or cost centers (unrelated to the project) that can also be used in a discretionary manner by the department managers. In those cases, with a well thought out justification, you may be able to pool that money in addition to what’s been allocated to the project to increase your available funding for training. In the case where you have line items for training for different phases of the project, close examination and analysis may reveal that there is an imbalance in the amounts allocated for some areas. Understanding that demographic need and the spread can help you level the available funds in other areas or phases of the project where you are deficient in the amount of money needed to support those particular initiatives.  How much is too much, how much is not enough?

Third, what are your logistics and operational contraints?  Training requires time and resources. Staff time, training rooms, systems\application environments, etc…  To train people, the traditional model involves taking them out of their work environment, putting them into a classroom, and running them through a curriculum based program that will orient them to the new systems and sometimes to the specific processes or application used in their jobs.  Point being you are taking people away from their jobs which directly impacts the organizations ability to do business. How do you compensate for that from an operations perspective?  Do you need to compensate for that from an operations perspective? When you’re trying to implement training in large organizations, these challenges become even more daunting.  How much is too much, how much is not enough?

Fourth, what are your timelines?  The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry…  I’m not sure that when Robert Burns penned that famous quote, he wasn’t thinking about project planning, schedules and interdependencies, but he could have been!  You can develop the most comprenhensive training plan possible, taking into consideration every possible need. Then you start to consider the functional dependencies required to pull that off (i.e. availability of systems, availability of facilities, etc…), the personell logistics (availability of staff, availability of trainers, availability of technical support, etc…), and the human factor (how much time will elapse between training, testing and GOLIVE when people will have to use the system) and you start to realize that you have created a monster. How much is too much, how much is not enough?

 Now, how does this all play out in the context of your objectives?

Stakeholders – You have to address all of them.  You don’t necessarily have to deliver to all of them. As quickly as possible assess what their critical functional needs and requirements are in relation to training. Be careful to note the difference between ‘nice-to-haves’ and ‘must-haves’.

Budgetary Constraints – Make a short list of the ideal classes and training Deliverables you would provide in a best case scenario. Ball park cost it and compare to your ‘nice-tohave’ and ‘must-have’ lists from your stakeholders. Identify the gap if one exists. Prioritize the stakeholders in the context of functionally (and successfully) completing the project.

Logistics and Operational Constraints – Now review your operational capability and capacity for delivering the training.  Do you have the required classrooms, computing resources and the application environment to deliver to the volume of people that need to be trained.  Even if all of those people can be spared from their jobs for the time it will take to train them, is it really necessary to pull all of them to accomplish your functional objectives?

Project Timelines – Now that you’ve considered your stakeholders requirements, budgetary constraints, logistics and operational constraints, consider your overall project timelines. Will your systems be online and functional in the appropriate time frame to be used for training.  Will tapping these systems for training impact other scheduled activities (i.e. development, system integration testing, user acceptance testing, etc…)? Can training be combined with other scheduled project activities in ways that create synergy and efficiencies in overall project execution? How much time will elapse between training and when you will count on users to participate in testing and actually take the system live?

Conclusions

1. The blue sky approach is that everyone will want training and as much as they can get. The reality is that you will almost never have the budget, available resources or the time for that, even if you can tap those outside-of-the-project discretionary departmental budgets. It’s up to you to ascertain what is really required to successfully launch. Typically it’s the end users, and some mix of application administration\desktop  support. This is where you engage the Project Sponsor and potentially the clients Project Director to help set expectations with the various stakeholders on what will be delivered. This is also where Change Management comes in. Help the client to understand the need that change management addresses, and suggest  creative ways that change management techniques can help to address the training of future hires and the additional training of people not included in the formal project training.
2. As an alternative to training everyone, consider ‘organic approaches’ that leverage departmental super users for propagating training within their departments. This approach done properly can also yield a secondary benefit of producing ‘product evangelists’ within the department that will culturally promote the use of the system from within. The production of computer based training (CBT’s) for training of the masses can also be a very cost effective alternative when largely repeatable tasks come into play. These can be produced much more cost effectively with current productivity tools than could be done even 3 to 5 years ago.
3. However you deliver your training, it will be more effective if it is delivered just prior to when users will be required to use the system. Typically this should be just before test, and then test should be immediately followed by the launch so that users are using the system while the skills and concepts developed in training are still fresh in their minds.

How much is too much, how much is not enough?

The short answer is that more is not always better. Users need to be able to do their jobs, nothing more, nothing less. We want to deliver the best solution, but we have to remain focused on our core objectives. If informal training with ‘Cheat Sheets’ at the users desktop is sufficient, go there. If it requires multiple language translations of End User Manuals and CBT’s with customized voice overs, go there. It’s about the right solution in the right place for the right people at the right time. It’s your job to understand and articulate what ‘right’ is.

Gene Eckhart
Program Manager
ImageSource, Inc.