Masonry Magazine February 2008 Page. 48
Full Contact Project Management
FULL CONTACT PROJECT MANAGEMENT
By "Coach" Gary Micheloni
Your Two-Minute PM Offense
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is part two of a two-part series in becoming the quarterback your team needs for 2008.
As you look at this issue of Masonry, Super Bowl Sunday is a recent memory of what was maybe a good game, maybe not. Maybe you cared, and maybe you didn't. But that big game is a wrap-up for the season. Which teams made it, which didn't, and why? Talk will go on about the other big games the ones that should have been won or, at least, could have been won. And, if they had been won, the teams that played in the championship might have been different.
"But Coach," you ask, "What's the lesson in a football game for a PM?" It has to do with intensity and timing: Always know how much time is left on the clock.
Time on the clock? Absolutely. Look, I know that not every reader is a huge football fan, but most of you have watched a game or two. So, if you're careful, you'll see lessons for life and business played out over the course of almost every game. For example, think about the importance of the clock, and how it affects the game and your own company and projects.
When a team begins the game, there is an actual game plan. This is the coach's strategy for how he thinks the game can be won. The game plan has a certain pace to it. Thru the first three quarters, it's pretty measured. The game goes on, the clock ticks down, and the decision of who wins and who loses gets closer.
If you're on the losing end, the clock becomes your enemy. You don't want the game to be over until you are ahead! So you have to maximize your opportunities, and determine how to get in more plays for your team. Call time outs when you need to. Stop the clock. Start the clock. Win the game.
Face it: As a PM, you have a project to "win," and your record has to be a winning one. Did you really think it was that different from football? Of course it's not. Contract working days, phase durations, completion dates, happy customers versus liquidated damages, yeah, you've got clocks.
The saying, "I've got too much month left after the end of the money" is not just what Joe Lunchbucket worries about. PMs have it in spades, because each phase of our work and each line item has its own budget and time constraints. And Day 1 of each phase is almost always much less intense than that final day of the phase, when you've got new trades coming in tomorrow or, worse yet, a grand opening crowd.
Understanding timing
So you're battling time and you're battling money. Every project. Every day. By comparison, a professional QB might only battle the time left in the game, at least for a while. But later, he might also
COACH GARY SAYS:
"Pro QBs and pro PMs are always up against the clock. But the PM comes up against the dollar a bit sooner."
battle for his own playing time, then for his job, and then for his money. Amazing, isn't it, how so many things come down to time and money?
Hopefully you believe the premise that the clock is important, even in construction. Did you know you can do some things to actually manage the clock, help your bottom line and improve your win-loss record?
Good coaches and QBs do know and understand the clock. Their mindsets change when there is little time left in the game. In fact, they often go into the "two-minute offense" mode when there is little time left, they are behind, and they need to score before time runs out. The pace quickens, and they go to a "no-huddle" offense. Instead of huddling before each play, they just go up to the line of scrimmage, the QB calls a play, and the team, hopefully, executes it just like the coach drew it up. Sometimes, it messes up the opposing defense, and they