It Ain’t What You do, it’s the way that you do it

EPM
Extraordinary Project Management
5 Ts of Extraordinary Project Management
It ain’t what you do….. it’s the way that you do it
© Gold Heron Ltd 2018
Marion Thomas

EPM
Does it bother you that…..?
@ Gold Heron Ltd 2017 2
Ø Prince 2 exam taken every 4 minutes
Ø Over 1.2 million Prince 2 certificates have
been issued*
Ø If laid end to end they stretch 272km, and
Ø Cover 5,346 Olympic swimming pools
Ø Agile is growing at 16,000 exams sat*
AND YET………
Ø We continue to see horrendous stats on
project failure
Ø We continue to come across project people
who couldn’t manage their way out of a
paper bag
Ø Common sense seems very un-common * KnowledgeTrain.co.uk

EPM
Are methodologies obsolete?
Ø Pragmatic Prince
Ø Methodologies provide
project discipline
Ø Ignore them at your peril
BUT….
Ø Being a slave to a
methodology will not
guarantee success
@ Gold Heron Ltd 2017 3© Gold Heron Ltd 2018

EPM
How do I know?.....I’m a project person
Ø ICI / Zeneca – business transformation / supply chain / SAP
Ø FTSE companies, Public Sector
Ø Contracting since 1996 - 97% utilisation

EPM
Who am I?
Ø Messy Mum
Ø Bassoonist in 2 orchestras
Ø Co-Active Coach
Ø Leadership graduate
Ø Learning (especially in
nice places)
Ø Mary Poppins, eccentric,
fly-in, make a difference,
depart, leave a legacy
Ø Get into overwhelm once
in a while

EPM
The 5Ts of Extraordinary Project
Management
Target
Time
Mastery
Tribe
Terrain
Taking Care
Of Yourself
(TCOY)
Framework to help
us think about
things differently

EPM
It ain’t what you do, it’s the way that
you do it……
What
Project scope
Project plan
Project team
Time management
Stress management
How we do it at EPM
Target
Terrain
Tribe
Time Mastery
Taking Care Of Yourself
@ Gold Heron Ltd 2017© Gold Heron Ltd 2018

EPM
The 5Ts of Extraordinary Project
Management
8© Gold Heron Ltd 2018

EPM
Target – the ‘Why’ as well as the ‘What’
Ø Creating certainty
Ø Building confidence
Ø Enabling our team to move
forward
Ø Underpins all decisions
99
Target

EPM
“In business it
doesn’t matter
what you do it
matters why
you do it.”
Simon
Sinek
The ‘Big Why’
10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4ZoJKF_VuA
Target

EPM
Terrain – the detail of the journey not
just the plan
Ø Where are we going?
Ø How are we going to get there?
Ø Who is coming with us?
Ø What obstacles will we face?
Ø How do we cope with changes?
1111
Terrain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16hxCB1Dvd4

EPM
What could happen along the way….
where are the gremlins?
Ø Pandemic
Ø Pirates
Ø Volcanoes
Ø Snowed in for a
fortnight
1212
Terrain
Would you have put
all of these on a risk
register??
Which one
materialised???

EPM
Who is in your Tribe?
There’s a Tribe of people just waiting for you to
connect them with each other and lead them
where they want to go……..Seth Godin
Ø Choose carefully
Ø Avoid ‘yes men’
Ø Appreciate challenge
Ø Pursue variety
Ø Focus on strengths
1313
Tribe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW8amMCVAJQ

EPM
The emperor may have no clothes….
be courageous and wise
Ø Empower your team
Ø Welcome mistakes
Ø Learn
Ø Put things on the table
Ø Keep asking questions
Ø Listen
1414
Tribe

EPM
Who is in your Tribe?
15
Remember: No one on your team
goes to work to do a bad job.
Ø Who do you need / have to have in
your Tribe?
Ø Who are your allies?
Ø How do you build connections with
people?
Which of your Tribe
are:
Ø Advocates
Ø Allies
Ø Associates
Ø Adversaries
Ø Abdicators

EPM
Let’s try it out - think about the
disposition of your Tribe members

EPM
What’s the disposition of your Tribe members?
17
Name
Advocate
Ally
Associate
Adversary
Abdicator
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
• Who are your Tribe members?
• What is their disposition?
• Who might sit in more than one box
e.g. moving between Ally/Adversary?
• Which do you accept and monitor?
• Where do need to take action to
change their disposition?

EPM
Ø Being busy shows you are good at your job.
Ø The amount of time you spend on something in
itself defines how important that thing is.
Ø Time management tools are the answer - it’s just
you who struggles with them.
Ø Multi-tasking is real.
Ø Multi-tasking is a good thing.
Ø The more time you spend on something the better
the output or outcome is.
Ø ‘To Do’ lists are to be completed
Ø I have to answer or file every email
Ø I get recognition for juggling lots of things.
Ø I am amazing because I always say ‘Yes’ to
everything I am asked to do.
Ø Working long hours means that you are really good
at work
Lets bust some Time myths
18
You cannot manage
Time, you can only
manage your use of it.
Mclachlan & Meager, Time
Mastery
Time
Mastery

EPM
Time Mastery – more than managing a
To Do list
19
Ø Time Management tools help you consciously work
out your priorities
Efficiency
Ø Time Mastery allows you to become unconsciously
competent in using the time available to your best
effect
Effectiveness
Ø People spend their time resource on what they think is
important
Ø Time Mastery requires you to become clear about
what is important to you in the context of your
Target, Tribe and Terrain.
Time
Mastery
https://www.ted.com/talks/tim_urban_inside_the_mind_of_a_master_procrastinator

EPM
Taking Care of Yourself (TCOY) – far
more than just stress management
Ø Decision making
Ø Boundaries
Ø Expectation
management
Ø Stakeholders
Ø Supporters
Ø De-stress
Ø Relaxation
Ø Your career
2020
TCOY

EPM
Let’s try it out –
What does our support network look like?

EPM
Support network
Ø Think about who you support and who
supports you and write their names in the
circles
Ø Draw an arrow using the thickness of the
line to represent how much support they
each person gives you
Ø Draw an arrow using the thickness of the
line to represent how much support each
person needs from you
Ø Is you support network in overall balance
Ø Do you have enough support from the right
people
Ø What actions (if any) do you need to take in
order to balance your support network

EPM
Support network template
23
• Is you support network in overall
balance?
• Do you have enough support from
the right people?
• What actions (if any) do you need to
take in order to balance your support
network?

EPM
Remember that none of the 5Ts sit in
isolation
24
Framework to help
us think about
things differently

EPM
The ‘Big Why’
Ø “In business it doesn’t matter
what you do it matters why
you do it.” Simon Sinek
Ø At EPM we believe this
matters as much for you
personally as it does in
business
Ø Find out more about our
courses and programmes at
www.extraordinarypm.com

EPM
Our ethos
26
Ø We just want people who work on projects to be fulfilled
and successful and make a great difference in this world
Ø Please go and be one of these and help make
this happen
ØBe kind, see the good, lead, and inspire
ØPass it on.
Marion Thomas & Sarah Walton
Directors www.ExtraordinaryPM.com

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