The podcast for Project Managers by Project Managers - Stakeholder Engagement Table of Contents 00:53 … Meet Laura 04:21 … Learning and Development 05:18 … Working Internationally 11:44 … Representing H.Q. Remotely 15:56 … Culture Differences 17:11 … Inheriting a Position 22:30 … Stakeholder Engagement 24:56 … Reading a Room 28:21 … Empathy and Humility 30:47 … Building Trust 33:27 … Mistakes to Avoid 36:38 … Closing LAURA BUTCHER:  I think, because now my work is largely about serving clients and building relationships with clients who are my customers in my work now, I think stakeholder engagement is so essential. NICK WALKER:  Welcome to Manage This, the podcast by project managers for project managers.  This is our time to meet and talk about what really matters to you in the field of project management.  Our desire is to give you some perspective, some ideas, some real-life examples of what success looks like and how to get there. I’m your host, Nick Walker, and with me are the two guys who guide our discussion, Andy Crowe and Bill Yates.  And today we get to talk with someone who truly has a global perspective as a project manager. Meet Laura Laura Butcher is an organization and leadership development consultant.  She began in human resources at GE Appliances and GE Aircraft Engines; then at NationsBank, where she led teams following the NationsBank/Bank America merger.  After that, she made the move to London as Delta Air Lines Director of Human Resources in Europe.  Laura is the co-founder and principal of Blue Key Partners, a consulting practice focused in the areas of learning and leadership development, including executive assessment and coaching,  Laura, thanks so much for being here with us on Manage This. LAURA BUTCHER:  Thank you for inviting me. NICK WALKER:  We want to talk with you about working with global customers and engaging with stakeholders around the world.  But first of all, can we just take some time to get to know you a little bit better?  Tell us a little bit about yourself and what your first experiences were like with GE as you traveled internationally. LAURA BUTCHER:  So my background in corporate America was with GE, Bank of America, and Delta Air Lines for about 15 years. ANDY CROWE:  Small companies. BILL YATES:  Yeah. LAURA BUTCHER:  And then began my consulting practice about 12 years ago, largely in the areas of organization development, leadership development.  But my early experiences were in the human resources function, where I became very passionate about learning and development.  I had experiences supporting many global joint venture partners with GE Appliances and GE Aircraft Engines.  I did some work with GE Crotonville, which is the corporate leadership training institute in Crotonville, New York, where I was part of an adjunct faculty to take some of the GE Work-Out and Change Acceleration Program training to our colleagues in Asia and Europe.  So I was bitten with the bug of working internationally in my early days with GE. NICK WALKER:  What kind of prompted you?  What was it that bit you about working internationally? LAURA BUTCHER:  I think I always enjoyed the experience of seeing new places, experiencing new things, eating new cuisines, seeing sights and the history of places.  But I think beyond that I began to really appreciate working with people who see the world differently from myself.  So I think that’s what I found particularly engaging about it.  So oftentimes the work that we’re doing in human resources or in training and development is complex anyway because we’re dealing with human behavior.  But when you add the dimension of culture differences on top of that, it can be quite interesting work, and fulfilling. NICK WALKER:  What countries did you deal with when you were with GE? LAURA BUTCHER:  Well, we had joint venture partners in Asia.  So we were establishing a joint venture site with a Korean fi...

The Podcast for Project Managers by Project Managers. Table of Contents 00:59 … Meet Heather 02:46 … Orbital Space Debris 04:10 … LEO and GEO 04:41 … Policy Standards 06:14 … Regulating/Interagency Debris Coordination Committee 08:24 … Assessing and Mitigation 10:24 … Coordinating with Multiple Teams 11:38 … OSD Observatory on Ascension Island 15:53 … Effective Communication 18:26 … Is There an End to this Project? 24:09 … Career Advice 25:57 … Measuring Success 27:31 … Learn More 29:03 … The Bill and Nick Wrap Up HEATHER COWARDIN:  But we need to figure out a way to kind of control its growth and make sure that all space users can utilize the space environment.  And that’s the best we can do right now. NICK WALKER:  Welcome to Manage This, the podcast by project managers for project managers.  Every couple of weeks we meet right here and have a conversation about what matters to you in the field of project management.  We talk with real people, doing real jobs, and find out what makes them successful and what keeps them motivated. I’m your host, Nick Walker, and with me are the chief motivators, Andy Crowe and Bill Yates.  And Bill, for those who have ever said that the sky is the limit with what we do around here, well, they may need to rethink that perspective a little. BILL YATES:  Yeah, they’re in for a treat today.  Heather is going to talk to us about the orbital space debris issue that I didn’t even know existed.  This is going to be exciting stuff. Meet Heather NICK WALKER:  We all know how much we rely on satellites in orbit around the Earth.  These provide us with services such as navigation, meteorology, climate research, telecommunication, and human space exploration.  Unfortunately, with increasing space activities, a new and sort of unexpected hazard has started to emerge:  space debris. Dr. Heather M. Cowardin serves as the section manager and project manager for the Orbital Debris Research Section under the Science and Exploration Department of the JETS Contract with NASA Johnson Space Center.  She also leads the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office Research and Development Task Group. Dr. Cowardin, it’s an honor to have you with us here on Manage This.  Can we start out just getting to know you a little bit better?  How did you get to where you are today? HEATHER COWARDIN:  Well, I guess let’s go all the way back a couple of decades and talk about my childhood dream.  I wanted to be Batman, a garbage collector, or an astronaut.  And here we are, a couple decades later, and I feel like I’ve hit at least two of those three points.  I’m a superhero trying to protect space assets in space from garbage.  So not doing too bad. NICK WALKER:  Excellent. HEATHER COWARDIN:  So I guess where I kind of got to from there is I went to space camp in seventh grade after I won a fellowship from the Society of Women Engineers.  I was going to school at University of Houston, got an internship that turned into a full-time job, that turned into basically being a lead, into a deputy manager, into a full-on manager, to here we are now.  So been at NASA a good 15 years. NICK WALKER:  So you’re concentrating on space debris.  I think this is something that maybe escapes the radar of a lot of people. HEATHER COWARDIN:  Aha.  See what you did there. Orbital Space Debris NICK WALKER:  Yeah.  What is orbital space debris? HEATHER COWARDIN:  Right.  So it’s any manmade object that no longer serves a useful purpose.  So what does that mean?  Spent upper stages.  Mission-related debris.  Carriers for multiple payloads.  Even something as small as paint flakes, those can be very damaging. NICK WALKER:  How much of it is there? HEATHER COWARDIN:  There’s about 19,000 objects in space right now that are greater than 10 centimeters.  That threshold is basically the limit of where our sensors can track debris.  But in general there’s probably a good 23,

Project Planning for Project Managers. Table of Contents 01:04 … Meet Karen Crowe 02:36 … Project Planning and Integration 07:40 … Project Spike 09:13 … Project Scope 12:00 … Cost Management 13:08 … Learning New Practices 15:13 … Gratitude 16:16 … Project Resources 17:33 … Risk Analysis 21:11 … Stakeholders 25:00 … Communication 26:51 … WBS and Project Conclusion 31:25 … Follow the Journey KAREN CROWE:  I think any time you are organizing, thinking ahead, categorizing, you’re managing a project.  This is definitely – I would say this qualifies. NICK WALKER:  Welcome to Manage This, the podcast by project managers for project managers.  We’re glad you’ve joined us for a conversation about what matters to you in the field of project management.  It’s a podcast where we routinely talk with experts, trainers, mentors, people who have been where you are now and where you’re headed. I’m your host, Nick Walker, and with me are two guys who guide our conversation, Andy Crowe and Bill Yates.  And guys, I’m excited about this podcast for a couple reasons.  It’s a chance to get to know our own people a little bit better, both professionally and personally.  But it’s also a chance to hear about managing a project like none we’ve ever talked about before here on this podcast.  And to help us, we have an extra special guest in the studio today.  So Bill, why don’t you tell us a little bit about who’s with Andy today. Meet Karen Crowe BILL YATES:  Yeah, we have Karen Crowe in the office today, in our podcast booth.  It is so good to have you here.  This is clearly a case of the better half of the Andy and Karen marriage is here.  Andy is like me in that he out-kicked his coverage.  And I think today our guests have a chance to understand a bit more about that.  Welcome, Karen. KAREN CROWE:  Thank you, Bill. BILL YATES:  We’re excited to hear more about the project.  But first, Karen, I think for those who are not as familiar with Velociteach, you were involved with the company before I started, right from the start.  And just share with our listeners a little bit about that. KAREN CROWE:  When Andy and I started Velociteach, well, it was a little overwhelming.  We knew, like we had a solid plan.  Andy had spreadsheets; and, I mean, you know, he’s a project manager, so he had the plan.  But there was just me and him to carry it out.  The main thing that I have been involved in and continue to be involved in was creating the workbooks for the live training classes, specifically the mind maps.  That’s my... BILL YATES:  Yeah, there are some listeners right now that are going, “Oh, my gosh, I love her.”  Others are going to, “The mind maps, they drove me crazy.” KAREN CROWE:  I hate them.  You either love them or hate them, that’s true. BILL YATES:  Yeah, yeah, but it’s such a great memorization device that we use.  And you’re really – you’re the mother of that.  You really are. KAREN CROWE:  And I feel very – they are my baby.  I feel protective of them. Project Planning and Integration NICK WALKER:  So Andy and Karen, the reason we’re all together here is that both of you are headed on what amounts to not only an adventure, but also sort of a project management challenge like none you’ve ever encountered – a long-term sabbatical aboard the sailing vessel Gratitude.  It’s a project that has obviously involved untold hours of planning and preparation.  But before we get into this, Andy, why?  What’s the reason for all this? ANDY CROWE:  I think because it’s there, Nick.  You know what, this is something that started out as a question.  We’re not retiring.  But it started out as a question:  Is this something we could do and enjoy in retirement?  And I think after we explored and answered that question, the next question began to be, well, why wait till retirement? BILL YATES:  What triggered this for you both?  I know, you know, I see Andy a good bit in the office.  I know he started getting this desire to be on the water.

Table of Contents 01:08 … Meet Jamie Champagne 04:11 … Effective Elicitation 07:40 … “Talk Story” 12:35 … Asking Good Questions 16:19 … How to Get Feedback 21:00 … How to Take Negative Feedback 23:55 … Stakeholder/Sponsor Resistance 28:05 … Leveraging Elicitation Skills 32:38 … Get in Touch with Jamie Effective Elicitation and the PM JAMIE CHAMPAGNE:  I have no shame with business analysts ever being called a "miracle worker."  We're happy to help. NICK WALKER:  Welcome to Manage This, the podcast by project managers for project managers.  This is our every other week time to meet and discuss what project management is all about.  Our purpose is to get to the heart of what matters to you as a professional project manager.  We've asked you what you want to hear about and the kinds of guests you'd like to hear from, and today's podcast is a response to those requests. I'm your host, Nick Walker, and with me are the guys who are the ones who make it all happen, Andy Crowe and Bill Yates.  And it's appropriate that we talk about eliciting feedback from our listeners because today we're going to talk specifically about elicitation. ANDY CROWE:  Okay, Nick.  That's one of the bigger words.  What is that?  Five syllables, right, that we're getting into.  So that may be a record for a topic for us.  But it's going to be really interesting to see where this goes in terms of how to ask questions, how to elicit responses, and how to get quality responses back. Meet Jamie Champagne NICK WALKER:  Well, we're going to elicit some responses from our guest today.  Our guest today is Jamie Champagne.  As a business analyst, speaker, and trainer, she teaches others how to improve their analysis skill sets and how to be more accomplished professionals.  She calls herself an "overly passionate BA."  And through her company, Champagne Collaborations, Jamie joins forces with organizations around the world, training teams to be wildly successful.  When she's not collaborating with her business partners, you can find her collaborating with her friends and family on the Hawaiian waters on a surfboard.  In fact, she's joining us via Skype from beautiful Hawaii.  And Jamie, welcome to Manage This. JAMIE CHAMPAGNE:  Good morning.  Welcome.  Thank you for having me.  I'm very excited to be here today. NICK WALKER:  Now, we want to start off by just knowing you a little bit better.  Can you tell us a little bit about yourself, your business, where you are right now? JAMIE CHAMPAGNE:  Sure.  I love the title of an overly passionate business analyst and project manager because that's what I do live for.  I am located all the way here in Hawaii; and, yes, we do work.  We don't sit on the beach all day long.  We actually help get some good change projects completed all the way through.  And so I find myself spending a lot of time doing mentoring and coaching project teams on helping be successful, as well as doing a lot of training and speaking about what is business analysis, project management; how do they work together; and really leveraging skills to really be effective.  That's I think our biggest goal is everyone wants to do a good job, and people are looking for ways to do that.  And I'm fortunate enough to get to work with some really great people, mentoring and coaching. ANDY CROWE:  Jamie, it's interesting how project management and business analysis have come much closer together.  And it used to be that there were processes to project management.  And then the BA went off and did their magic and just brought back this treasure trove of information.  But now they've started to develop the processes around that and made terrific progress there, as well.  So it's really matured in the past few years. JAMIE CHAMPAGNE:  Oh, absolutely.  I think the highlight is not just here's an activity, but those skill sets; and that we've relied so much on project managers to do everything and then go, oh,

Table of Contents 00:46 … Meet Jane 03:40 … Gender Gap in IT 09:11 … Transitioning to Non-Profit 18:07 … Dealing with Diverse Cultures 21:08 … Communicating Project Status 24:02 … From CARE USA to World Vision 27:02 … Collaboration Tools and Techniques 28:19 … The Not-For-Profit Work Environment 31:34 … Back to Corporate 33:37 … Increasing Cultural Diversity Advice 35:47 … Cultural Awareness Testing 37:39 … Closing   NICK WALKER:  Welcome to Manage This, the podcast by project managers for project managers.  This is our time devoted to you, the professional project manager.  Our goal is to encourage you and perhaps to challenge you, to give you a peek into the way other PMs are doing the stuff and creating successes. I’m your host, Nick Walker, and with me are the two guys who make this all happen, Andy Crowe and Bill Yates.  And Andy, we’re going to explore a subject that we really haven’t dealt with in depth before, something we call “cultural intelligence.” ANDY CROWE:  This is a fascinating topic, Nick.  We’re going to start peeling back some of the elements that really matter to project managers and organizations in general. Meet Jane NICK WALKER:  Well, let’s meet our guest to talk about that.  After establishing a successful IT consulting career in the corporate world, Jane Canniff invested a decade leading global development projects and programs for World Vision International and CARE USA.  A leader in project and program management, Jane is currently the owner of Tango Consulting LLC.  Jane, thanks so much for joining us here on Manage This. JANE CANNIFF:  Thank you very much for having me, Nick. NICK WALKER:  One of the top challenges that many projects managers list as their greatest hurdle is this thing called “cross-cultural management.”  Now, nationality is one cultural difference that we talk about.  But there are many others:  gender, ethnicity, age group, even professional and organizational culture.  They’re all part of a person’s cultural identity.  Now, you’ve had the experience of working in various multicultural environments.  Can you describe what some of those were like? JANE CANNIFF:  Yes, I can.  And I would want to start this conversation by saying I don’t see myself as an expert in cross-cultural environments and how to work successfully in them.  As someone who has journeyed through those environments, I have my own experiences – and of course those come through my own filters – and can offer those experiences and lessons learned to others.  As we discussed prior to the podcast, everyone’s journey is different, and everyone’s experience in that is different.  And so I would want our discussion simply to prompt questions and to encourage people to engage in dialogue. So with that being said, the experiences that I’ve had, first as a woman entering the IT workforce; and then later as a project manager managing teams of people who were not like me and/or who could be older than me, as well; and then moving from the for-profit IT consulting environment into the global development environment posed even a massive set of cultural shifts and changes, everything from the fact that I used “development” to refer to software, and they used “development”... ANDY CROWE:  Right, to raising funds, yeah. JANE CANNIFF:  To raising funds and/or to the programs that they execute on the ground to achieve their end goals.  So while we may all be using the same word, each one of us could be thinking something completely different. Gender Gap in I.T. NICK WALKER:  Let’s talk first about the gender gap sometimes that we see in the IT world.  You mentioned that.  Were you like the only one, or one of very few? JANE CANNIFF:  Yes.  I was one of very few.  And I also recognize that there were a number of people who paved the way for me because there were a lot of women who were in more what I would term “data processing” roles,

The Podcast for Project Mangers Table of Contents 00:50 … Meet Mike 03:12 … Active vs Passive PM 09:14 … Micromanaging Teams 11:14 … Managing Multiple Projects 12:59 … PM Tools and Processes 17:21 … Setting Expectations 21:40 … Communicating Solutions 23:24 … Keeping Projects on Task 27:16 … Know When to Pull the Plug 30:24 … Closing MIKE PONDISCIO:  Absolutely.  For an active project manager, you really want to be one or two steps ahead of your team.  In other words, bowling analogy:  You need to clear the lane, set up the pins so that your team can knock them down. NICK WALKER:  Welcome to Manage This, the podcast by project managers for project managers.  Every two weeks we get together for the express purpose of talking about what matters to you as a professional project manager.  We interview guests who can speak from experience.  We share in their successes and learn lessons from their challenges. I’m your host, Nick Walker, and with me are the resident experts, Andy Crowe and Bill Yates.  And Andy, this time around I think we’re going to be able to speak to where a lot of our listeners, perhaps even the majority of them, live every day. ANDY CROWE:  You know, Nick, a lot of project managers are managing multiple smaller projects.  It can get chaotic.  It can be frenetic.  And there’s a lot to learn there.  So I’m looking forward to this episode. Meet Mike NICK WALKER:  Well, our guest today is Michael Pondiscio, who has 20 years of experience in project management.  Since 2013, Mike has been a solutions consultant and product manager at Avtex Solutions.  He’s a seasoned project manager who delivers creative solutions to tough technical challenges, and he does it on time and within budget.  Listen to this list of his current expertise:  engagement management, delivery management, bulletproof management, business analysis, consulting, process mapping, and RFP response management.  Mike, welcome to Manage This. MIKE PONDISCIO:  Well, thank you very much for having me.  I’m excited to be here and share what I can. NICK WALKER:  Well, that’s a long list of things that you’re involved in.  Obviously, you’ve been doing this at least for a little while.  Tell us how you got into this business. MIKE PONDISCIO:  I started out in this business working in a small telecommunications company.  And as you would find in a small company, everybody has multiple roles.  So one of my roles was engineering, and the other role was project management.  And naturally I moved to the project management role because, as I was watching the projects be delivered, I realized that I could do a better job of it. So I said, “Let me go ahead and start helping these people out.”  And I sort of, just by natural propensity, ended up going down the project management path, but still managed to do some of the technical experience work as well – engineering, solution engineering, and going out with sales teams.  But that’s how I really started out was getting into telecommunications, starting in a smaller company, and then just growing with the field as it became Voice over IP solutions. ANDY CROWE:  I believe that going out with a sales team, being a presales engineer, is like the greatest job in the world because you don’t actually really have to deliver it.  You just kind of make a bunch of promises. MIKE PONDISCIO:  Yeah, you just promise it. ANDY CROWE:  I hook ‘em, you get to fry ‘em; right? Active vs Passive PM NICK WALKER:  Is that what we mean by “active project management” rather than “passive project management”? ANDY CROWE:  Probably not. NICK WALKER:  Well, that’s an important thing, though.  Obviously you were an active participant from the get-go.  How does that compare with maybe others who take a more passive approach? MIKE PONDISCIO:  Well, there’s very much a difference between an active and passive project manager.  And those are my terms, of course.

The Podcast by Project Managers for Project Managers. Table of Contents 00:53 … Meet Jennifer 01:56 … Difference between Introverted and Extroverted Leaders 07:36 … Introvert Superpowers 09:52 … Competing with the Extrovert 11:11 … Taking on Extrovert Roles 13:36 … Introverts Leading a Team 17:05 … Assessments 18:45 … Empowering the Introvert 21:20 … Extroverts Leading Introverts 22:54 … Four P Process 27:16 … Brainwriting and Meeting Strategies 29:03 … Ambiverts 30:28 … Closing   JENNIFER KAHNWEILER:  We need to really talk about these in our teams and our work spaces.  When I research, my research now is about organizations that are introvert friendly.  And one of the characteristics I’m finding is that it’s out in the open, just like any other element of diversity we have to talk about.  And when we do, it becomes not a really big deal. NICK WALKER:  Welcome to Manage This, the podcast by project managers for project managers.  Every couple of weeks we meet in an effort to get to the heart of what matters to you as a professional project manager.  And the way we do that is by getting inside the brains of the best in the business, people who specialize in helping others either get started or rise to the next level. I’m your host, Nick Walker, and with me are two guys who are leaders in this effort, Andy Crowe and Bill Yates.  And today, Andy, we’re going to examine what role introverts play in the field of project management. ANDY CROWE:  This is a topic that we’ve discussed a lot around the office.  Lot of people have been reading a book circulating around, and we’re excited to have the author here today. Meet Jennifer NICK WALKER:  Well, let’s meet her.  Jennifer Kahnweiler is known as the champion for introverts.  She’s a PhD, certified speaking professional, and an author and global speaker.  Her bestselling books, “The Introverted Leader,” “Quiet Influence,” and “The Genius of Opposites” have been translated into 16 languages.  Jennifer has consulted with hundreds of organizations, including Freddie Mac, TEDx, GE, NASA, and the CDC.  She has conducted leadership programs from Singapore to Spain.  Her work has been featured in Forbes, Time magazine, and the Wall Street Journal.  Jennifer serves on several boards and is a mentor to many professional women.  Dr. Kahnweiler thanks so much for being with us here on Manage This. JENNIFER KAHNWEILER:  Oh, it’s my absolute pleasure, Nick, thank you. NICK WALKER:  Now, I’d like to get things started with a quotation from your blog.  You say, “The most effective leaders are not prone to project their ideas onto the team, but listen first to what ideas emerge.  The best leaders also engage with people and are truly present with them, gaining their trust and respect.”  Is that your description of the introverted leader? JENNIFER KAHNWEILER:  I think that’s a good start in thinking about what an introverted leader does so well.  And they are present.  When you ask people, Nick, who was your best manager, whether project manager or other type, oftentimes they will describe somebody with those exact qualities that you read.  And that’s what really intrigued me about looking at further research about really what makes those people tick. Difference between Introverted and Extroverted Leaders NICK WALKER:  Well, let’s talk a little bit about the differences between the introverted leader and the extroverted leader.  What are some of the traits we’d find in each? JENNIFER KAHNWEILER:  Well, I think it’s very similar to when we think about extroverts and introverts.  Extroverts get their energy from other people, from the world outside, from the stimuli going on around them.  Introverts, on the other hand, are reflective and get their energy from the source within.  And over the years, in studying this, I’ve collected so much anecdotal data. And I think the simplest way to think about it and consider whether or not you’re an introvert or extrovert,

The podcast by project managers for project managers. Table of Contents 01:00 … Meet Andy and Bill 04:07 … The Evolution of the PM 06:40 … Managing Stakeholders 12:42 … Common Challenges in Consulting Projects 19:24 … Technology Development and Non-IT Workgroups 23:10 … Is Agile Truly Being Used? 26:22 … Recommendations for New PMs/PMO Role in Agile 31:20 … Starting out in Project Management 33:02 … Wrap Up ANDY CROWE:  But I would start out not focused on the letters after my name, not focused on the alphabet soup, but focused on the fundamentals of project management and learning it. NICK WALKER:  Welcome to Manage This, the podcast by project managers for project managers.  This is our time to talk with you about what really matters to you as a professional project manager.  We want to encourage you, to challenge you, to give you some new ideas and perhaps a fresh way of looking at the profession. I’m your host, Nick Walker, and with me are the two guys who make this podcast happen, Andy Crowe and Bill Yates.  And Andy, today we’re actually going to hone in on some questions that we’ve gotten from our listeners. ANDY CROWE:  I like that.  We’ve gotten some good feedback from our listener community.  And I’m looking forward to diving into that. Meet Andy and Bill NICK WALKER:  I think it would probably be a good idea, though, to maybe learn a little bit more about you two guys.  I mean, we’ve gone for so long talking to different guests, learning about them.  But who is Andy Crowe and Bill Yates?  Andy, you are an author, a speaker.  You’ve done so many things.  How did you get into this? ANDY CROWE:  And I’m also an existentialist, so that’s a really interesting question that you’re asking.  Who am I?  Why am I here? You know, Nick, I have been doing this a while.  I’ve been managing projects really since the late ‘80s; but technically, formally, with the title since the early ‘90s.  And seen a lot of changes come through.  You know, when I started, it’s funny because I was there, you know, for the birth of Microsoft Project, and we all thought this was amazing.  And that turned out to be a really interesting thing for project managers because it could reformulate a schedule.  It could do things like that.  But it didn’t make people better project managers.  Just like handing Microsoft Word to a writer is not going to make them a better writer; handing a good microphone and an amp to a speaker isn’t going to make them a better speaker or a better communicator. And so, you know, when I started with this, the tools that were coming along were useful, but they also just enabled a lot of bad practices.  So I put my career and my energy into learning project management, learning how it should be done, probably learning enough to be really dangerous because then I had a hundred different ways to do something that probably just needed a simple solution. I’ve written a few books on project management.  I’ve written a couple of test-oriented resources for the PMP Exam, “How to Pass on Your First Try,” and the PMI-ACP, which is the Agile Certified Practitioner exam, “How to Pass on Your First Try.”  And then “Alpha Project Managers,” which is my favorite of the three.  It’s not the one that’s been the most commercially successful of the three, but it was the most fun to really get in and research the practices.  It’s called “What the Top 2% Know That Everyone Else Does Not.”  And it looks at the practices that make some project managers successful and maybe sets them apart from their peers. NICK WALKER:  We’re looking forward to tackling some of the questions using your background and expertise in getting into some of these things that our listeners have asked us.  But let’s meet Bill Yates. BILL YATES:  Yeah. NICK WALKER:  Bill, we’ve heard your voice.  We’ve sort of gotten to know you a little bit through the podcast, but tell me a little bit about your background. BILL YATES:  So who is this guy; right?

Manage This, the podcast by project managers for project managers. Table of Contents 00:50 … Meet Tricia Molloy 01:59 … Our need for goals. 03:00 … How to identify goals? 05:04 … Obstacles/Distractions to goal setting. 09:30 … Stress – good or bad? 12:50 … Energy management. 15:15 … Vision Boards and RAS. 16:53 … Creating and using Vision Boards. 25:25 … Vision Board for a Project team. 28:28 … Wrap Up TRICIA MOLLOY:  We live in a world where there’s so many distractions.  And in order for us to focus, it really makes sense to think about what goals are most important to us in order to get that done.  So, I’m a big believer in thinking about what goals are important, and writing those goals down, and having a plan. ANDY CROWE:  Welcome to Manage This, the podcast by project managers for project managers.  Normally you’d be hearing the voice of Nick Walker right now; but Nick also has a job chasing storms, and Nick is involved right now in some weather activity.  And so this is Andy Crowe.  And I am playing kind of host here, along with Bill Yates.  We have a very special guest in the studio today.  Bill, tell us about our guest. Meet Tricia Molloy BILL YATES:  Yes, we do.  Our guest today is Tricia Molloy.  Tricia’s an author and speaker who presents programs on reducing stress, achieving goals, and improving work-life balance, all things that we can improve on, for sure.  Tricia consults with a number of organizations, for example, Marriott, Kellogg, The Home Depot, Deloitte, and the Network of Executive Women.  She facilitates vision board workshops.  We’ll have a lot more to say about that.  And she’s worked with employees at the CDC, Verizon, and Ernst & Young.  Tricia, welcome to Manage This. TRICIA MOLLOY:  Thank you. ANDY CROWE:  Tricia, one of the things that we’re very excited to talk to you about are these vision boards.  But I feel like we need to set the stage first and talk a bit about goals. TRICIA MOLLOY:  Yes. Our Need for Goals. ANDY CROWE:  So thinking about goals – and this is certainly something that project managers have to focus on a lot; right?  We have a lot of goals.  But why do we have goals in work and in other aspects of life?  We have to set goals to get things done personally.  What is it about us?  What is our need for goals? TRICIA MOLLOY:  Yeah, we live in a world where there’s so many distractions.  And in order for us to focus, it really makes sense to think about what goals are most important to us in order to get that done.  So I’m a big believer in thinking about what goals are important and writing those goals down and having a plan. ANDY CROWE:  I like that.  You know, Stephen Covey in his “7 Habits for Highly Successful People” book talked about beginning with the end in mind. BILL YATES:  Right. ANDY CROWE:  And so a lot of times it’s useful to kind of envision an outcome.  And it doesn’t always turn out the way we plan, I guess, but it’s a useful exercise, huh. How to Identify Goals BILL YATES:  That’s for sure.  Now, Tricia, I know you’ve worked with a number of organizations and with individuals who struggle in this area, and you have the chance to really coach them and help them identify goals.  Let’s say you’re meeting with me, and you’re talking through my need for goals, and you’ve kind of sold me on the idea.  How do you help me identify goals? TRICIA MOLLOY:  Oh, that’s a great question.  Sometimes you think first about what you don’t want in your life. BILL YATES:  Okay. TRICIA MOLLOY:  And then those goals just naturally evolve from there.  So that’s one way to do it.  Another way is to think about what you want the final outcome to be.  And then of course there are steps before that.  And each of those steps inevitably becomes a goal. BILL YATES:  Okay.  That’s good. ANDY CROWE:  Is this intuitive to most people?  Do they know how to set goals?  Do they walk in with misconceptions?  What do you think? TRICIA MOLLOY:  Huh.

The Podcast for Project Managers Evolution of the Business Analyst   Table of Contents: 0:47 … Meet Laura 1:49 … Evolution of BA functions 3:00 … Value of BA on a project 6:00 … BA past vs present 8:38 … Types of BA projects today 9:48 … BA and Agile projects 11:50 … Roles of the BA on a project 13:41 … Unique challenges for the BA 16:10 … Customer advocate role 18:21 … New skills required today 19:46 … PM transitioning to BA 21:32 … BA processes 23:48 … New skill topics 25:22 … BA training options   NICK WALKER:  Welcome to Manage This, the podcast by project managers for project managers.  This is our time to meet and talk about the things that matter to you as a professional project manager.  Our guests include some of the masters in the field, professionals who have proven themselves and enjoy helping others reach their goals. I’m your host, Nick Walker, and with me are two guys who are experts in their own right, Andy Crowe and Bill Yates.  Andy, today we’re going to be talking about the role of the business analyst, and we’ve got the person who literally wrote the book on the subject.   ANDY CROWE:  This is going to be good.  You know, this isn’t the first time we’ve touched on business analysis.  But it intersects so tightly with project management that I don’t know that we can get enough of it.   NICK WALKER:  Well, let’s meet our guest.  She’s a trainer, course developer, and speaker.  Laura Paton has been a business analyst practitioner for over 32 years, with experience across various industries in both project management and BA roles.  As a consultant in the International Institute of Business Analysis and the Project Management Institute, Laura is also the chair and author for PMI’s “Guide to Business Analysis,” the PMI’s “Business Analysis for Practitioners:  A Practice Guide,” and “A Guide to the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge.”  She’s the founder of BA Academy, a consulting/training company based in Orlando, Florida.  Laura is passionate about helping organizations and individuals mature and improve their BA skills and practices.  She is with us from Orlando via Skype.  Laura, welcome to Manage This.   LAURA PATON:  Thank you for having me.   Evolution of BA functions   NICK WALKER:  Well, as I mentioned before, we want to talk with you today about business analysis, and specifically the changing role of the business analyst.  How have the primary functions of the BA evolved over the last few years?   LAURA PATON:  I think there’s been quite a bit of an evolution.  Where my mind would go first with that question is thinking about Agile.  I know early on our project teams, when Agile started to become more mainstream outside of software companies, as you know from the framework, “business analyst” is not a role that’s specifically defined.  So many, many years ago BAs started to feel a little bit nervous, didn’t know really where they placed value, whether they would be called to work in these teams. That whole mindset has completely shifted.  And what I mean by that is, whether organizations went forth without the BA, or teams ended up failing on their projects for not focusing enough on business analysis, teams are looking to have BAs engaged from the beginning.  So that has been one area we have seen where BAs are now asked to play a role on an Agile team which in the past, like I said, there was that inconsistency about whether there was a position for them.   Value of BA on a project   ANDY CROWE:  Laura, this is Andy.  I’ve got a question for you.  It was years into my career as a project manager before I worked with a dedicated BA on the team.  So I had never worked with a business analyst.  Explain to our listeners what that value is, what a business analyst will do on a project, kind of how that works.   LAURA PATON:  Sure.  And that’s a really great question because that just shows the evolution of the role, as well.