Toby Franklin, a project manager at United Media, outlines challenges and strategies for implementing an enterprise application to track licensed products with limited resources. The objectives are to build a new application, convert legacy data, and integrate systems. Challenges include no dedicated team and inexperience with large projects. Franklin proposes 3 principles: lead from behind by empowering the team; avoid culture shock by understanding organizational culture; and find hidden talent by optimizing resources and creating rewards.

1. Mission Impossible: Implementing an Enterprise Application with Small Business Resources Toby Franklin Manager of Licensing Operations and Projects United Media, USA

2. One-Minute Exercise Defining Company Culture Write a few words to describe your company's culture. Think about how decisions are made at your organization, and record your first impression. I will collect your responses when you are done, and we will refer to them later in the presentation. You don't need to give your name or company, your answers will be anonymous!

3. Introduction Background Project manager with experience in organizations ranging from internet startups to multinational corporations, managing technology projects in the Legal, Banking and Consumer Goods industries. Currently managing a client services team and critical systems projects at United Media. Presented on open source software at Northeastern University and Harvard University. United Media Licensing and syndication company that represents globally recognized brands, such as Peanuts, Dilbert, Raggedy Ann and Precious Moments. Peanuts has print and animated content available in 21 languages, across 75 countries. More than 900 licensees produce approximately 15,000 new products each year.

4. Outline Project Overview Objectives Challenges 3 Principles to Meet Objectives Lead from Behind Put Aside Your Ego Build Trust Through Transparency Practice Less Documentation and More Communication Avoid Culture Shock Models of Organizational Culture Control the Project with Each Model Find and Retain Hidden Talent Optimize Your Resources Build a Separate Project Space... ...and Build a Reward Structure

5. Project Overview Objectives Build a new brand assurance application to track licensed product approvals. Convert +60,000 unique data records from a legacy application. Integrate the application with identity management and portal software. Write custom documentation and train hundreds of users worldwide before application launch. Challenges Accomplish these objectives with limited monetary and human resources. No dedicated project team, everyone has operational responsibilities. Organization has limited experience with enterprise-wide projects. Onsite technology team needs to be trained on new technology platform.

6. Project Overview 3 Principles to Meet Objectives 1. Lead from Behind

7. Project Overview 3 Principles to Meet Objectives 2. Avoid Culture Shock

8. Project Overview 3 Principles to Meet Objectives 3. Find and Retain Hidden Talent

9. Lead from Behind Put Aside Your Ego Project managers are experts at putting aside their own egos and becoming leaders from behind. You work through your team members' achievements, not your own. Goal of resource management in a project context is to maximize resource productivity. In a project, the key resources are your project team. In order to maximize productivity in a small business environment, encourage project and task ownership by holding team members accountable. If you are perceived as bearing responsibility for the project's failure and credit for its success, team members will have less motivation to complete project tasks. Facilitate, don't dictate the project agenda. Ask the important questions on objectives, success criteria and priorities, but do not provide the answers.

10. Lead from Behind Build Trust Through Transparency Everything is on the line, as large projects affect a large % of a small company's business. 1 Keep senior management updated through pre-meeting communication, keep rank and file updated through post-meeting communication. By remaining open and immediately communicating time, cost, and personnel issues on a project, you build trust among your team members.

11. Lead from Behind Practice Less Documentation and More Communication Better motivation can compensate for limited resources. 2 Smaller project teams do not require regimented documentation. One on one discussions with project team members. Informal gatherings outside of work environment, taking the project temperature.

12. Avoid Culture Shock Models of Organizational Culture 3 Be prepared for resistance before it occurs by understanding your culture, as culture guides how your resources will behave in the project. Role Culture: Predefined departments and roles, layers of bureaucracy.

13. Avoid Culture Shock Models of Organizational Culture 3 Be prepared for resistance before it occurs by understanding your culture, as culture guides how your resources will behave in the project. Person Culture: Employees believe they are more important than the organization.

14. Avoid Culture Shock Models of Organizational Culture 3 Be prepared for resistance before it occurs by understanding your culture, as culture guides how your resources will behave in the project. Task Culture: Project-oriented culture, a matrix that uses the best resources for the job.

15. Avoid Culture Shock Control the Project with Each Model Role Acquire expertise in different departments and learn how to speak everyone's language. Remove redundant processes from your project planning, consolidate when possible. Person Use interpersonal skills to encourage less visible team members to participate. Meet individually with high-profile team members, to prevent them from derailing the project. 4 Task Interview each team member about their motivation and points of concern for project tasks. Conduct separate meetings with different levels of the organization to avoid groupthink.

16. Find and Retain Hidden Talent Optimize Your Resources The best technique for finding hidden talent is to optimize the resources on your project team. Invest in your project team, instead of finding new people with the perfect skill sets. Build training and knowledge transfer into the project plan, not as a post-project activity. Don't always assume that each team member will only be capable of work at their current level. Adopt cross-functional responsibilities for your project team, different from day to day work.

17. Find and Retain Hidden Talent Build Separate Project Space... Provides space free of distractions, calls, emails. Enables PM to identify most useful team members and draw out best work quality. Best team members will often be in demand in other areas of the organization, separate project space ensures they're dedicated to your project. Project Office

18. Find and Retain Hidden Talent ...and Build a Reward Structure Even in current economic climate, this is possible with small-scale rewards. Bonus incentives for on-time deliverables. Contests to solve specific project problems. Extra personal time for high performers on project team.

19. Contact Information Contact: Email: tobyfranklin@gmail.com LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/tobyfranklin08 Phone: +1 857-231-1879

20. Useful Books 1, 2 Kerzner, H, & Thamhain, H (1984). Project Management for Small and Medium Size Businesses. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company. 3, 4 Handy, C (1993). Understanding Organizations: How Understanding the Ways Organizations Actually Work Can Be Used to Manage Them Better. New York: Oxford University Press.