Problems and Challenges (Part 1)

Summary

This presentation delves into the challenges faced by business redesign project teams, highlighting five common problems: leadership imperfections, terrorist and saboteur behaviors, middle management struggles, cultural resistance, and project paralysis. It outlines defense strategies for each issue, emphasizing the importance of executive support, stakeholder engagement, and proactive management to navigate the complex journey of business re-engineering projects.

Takeaways

• 😀 The presentation aims to identify problems a business redesign project team might face and describe the defense strategies for each problem.
• 🚧 The journey of business re-engineering is not always smooth, requiring constant vigilance for potential dangers.
• 🔑 There are five typical problem categories: leadership imperfections, terrorists and saboteurs, the plight of middle management, anguish of cultural struggle, and project paralysis.
• 👨‍💼 Leadership imperfections often stem from a lack of skills, control madness, runaway expectations, and inability to manage change and model new behavior.
• 🛑 Control madness in executives can hinder project progress due to distrust and a desire to be overly involved in project decisions.
• 🎯 To counter leadership imperfections, hold periodic meetings with sponsors, provide education on business re-engineering, develop tactical plans, and agree on the level of involvement required.
• 🤔 Saboteurs are driven by personal agendas and can be identified by behaviors such as the lone ranger, game player, opportunist, technocrat, and pretender.
• 💡 Defense strategies for sabotage include direct confrontation, inclusion in the project team, playing nurse mate, limiting technocrats' involvement, and persistence with the pretender.
• 👂 It's important to keep an eye out for patterns of behavior indicating a need for control or a self-centered agenda.
• 🗣️ Direct confrontation with the offender and seeking help from higher authorities can be effective in dealing with saboteurs.
• 🔄 If sabotage persists and removal from the project is not possible, seek help in improving team dynamics and work rules.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the presentation in the transcript?

The main focus of the presentation is on the problems and challenges encountered by a business redesign project team, and the defense strategies to address these issues.

What are the two primary objectives of the presentation?

The two primary objectives are to identify and explain the problems a business redesign project team might encounter, and to describe the defense strategies for each problem.

What are the five typical problem categories that a project team might encounter?

The five typical problem categories are leadership imperfections, terrorists and saboteurs, the plight of middle management, anguish of cultural struggle, and project paralysis.

Why do leaders require special attention and support in a project?

Leaders require special attention and support because they are human beings who, like everyone else, need guidance and assistance, especially in the face of executive sponsorship loss which can lead to funding cuts, project delays, and weakened efforts.

What are the four situations in which leadership imperfections most frequently occur?

Leadership imperfections most frequently occur when the executive lacks leadership skills, suffers from control madness, has runaway expectations, and lacks the skills needed to manage change and model new behavior.

What is the difference between terrorists and saboteurs in the context of a business re-engineering project?

Terrorists and saboteurs are driven by ambition, the need to control others, and self-centered personal agendas. Unlike those who react normally to change, they are not afraid of it and may even appear enthusiastic, but their actions are intended to undermine the project.

What are the defense strategies for dealing with leadership imperfections?

Defense strategies include having periodic meetings with executive sponsors, whole briefing sessions to educate them, developing and getting executive acceptance of a tactical plan, agreeing on the extent and types of involvement required, and providing periodic updates on factors affecting project implementation.

How can a project team deal with a 'lone ranger' type of saboteur?

The defense strategy for a lone ranger is quiet and direct confrontation, stopping the sabotage, neutralizing their influence, and setting up a meeting with the executive director and the lone ranger to resolve the issues.

What is the defense strategy for dealing with a 'game player' type of saboteur?

The defense strategy for a game player is to include them in the project team, keeping them in the loop, and putting them on notice that the project manager will not tolerate sabotage behavior.

How should a project team handle an 'opportunist' type of saboteur?

The defense strategy for an opportunist is to play the role of a 'nurse mate', which means taking care of and looking after the opportunist, monitoring their actions, and alerting them if they deviate from the project's objectives.

What steps should a project team follow to deal with saboteurs effectively?

Steps include keeping eyes and ears open for patterns of behavior, directly confronting the offender privately, contacting the person's boss and executive sponsor for help if needed, moving the person out of the project if the behavior persists, and seeking help in improving team dynamics if the person cannot be removed.