RedShift Project Program

The Power of Inclusion

Projects fail when change leadership, communications programs and alignment are missing or ignored. A red flag could be excessive early reliance on plans and functional specifications and minimal concern with the impact on people and culture. When buried in too much detail, project teams lose their sense of purpose and understanding of the business case for doing the project. Technical and business language barriers prevent clear communication and shared understanding with stakeholders, who then get blindsided when targets are missed and desired results are not achieved.

People will tirelessly resist what they don't understand. The more tangible you can make it, the better the likelihood they will get it. So put the business and technical jargon, charts and diagrams aside and get the team focused on the end user experience. Stories, pictures, prototypes, user-interface screens...all are useful for bringing a project to life and getting people on board. Ground the project in reality instead of burying it in laborious detail.

Project leadership and alignment allows space, sharing and flexibility and defeats rigidity, control and witholding. It requires communication and relationship building skills and makes good use of user-friendly collaboration systems. The goal, is the ability to definitively answer, at each stage and milestone, the following question: is what we are developing, what is wanted and needed - nothing more, nothing less?

THE PROGRAM

Project evaluation, recommendations, communications facilitation and mentoring to align with business case, stake holder objectives and end-user needs and requirements; and to increase the probability of project success.

Graphic: Project Leadership
RedShift Project Leadership

Project alignment means "no surprises" because it ensures that the right questions are asked.

Project alignment cuts through the extraneous, re-focuses on the the business case and re-directs efforts on the desired results path.

Project alignment is leadership communications that gets buy-in, participation, support and willingness to change.

EXAMPLES

Not understanding stakeholder expectations and end user needs, results in paralysis, costly revisions, and resistance to buy-in, fear of change and non-compliance.

Not asking the right questions results in managing from the "what you don't know you don't know" knowledge zone.

Project managers are so buried in spreadsheets, documentation, charts, meetings and email that they lose the big picture.

Different divisions speak different languages leading to insecurities, trust break-down, politics and power plays.