Author: Dr. Flores Page 17 of 44

As a business owner, I do whatever possible to make my customers happy. When they ask for a new feature, I get to work on the proposal right away, and will have it to them ASAP. If they wish to negotiate the price, I set up a meeting to discuss the requirements. When I’m convinced the price is too high, I revise it. If the customer asks for rush delivery, I will do what I can to meet the deadline.

As you can see, I’m committed to making my customers happy.

What if They are Wrong?

We had a customer (i.e., Steve) from North Carolina that was a toughie. Even when things were going well, he came up with something that he didn’t like. “Jimmie, you guys need to be a better job! I will not tolerate any more mistakes!” After reviewing these situations with the team, we often determined the issue was on their side, and not because of something we failed to do.

For example, Steve’s company asked us to develop a database to collect information throughout the year. Our team worked on the feature, and had it ready within a week. We provided a demo to the client via WebEx, and they were happy. At the end of the year, however, Steve called me upset that the report was “not running right.” After a quick review, I realized they had not populated any of the data for the entire year. Of course, he blamed us for failing to remind his team that they needed to update the records.

How to Take Care of It

I suppose that I could call Steve and tell him that he and his team are incompetent. They should know that the data must be entered by them, and that we have nothing to do with this part of the work. As you know, this approach is going to cause more problems, so here’s how I handled it.

“Steve, I wanted to follow-up with you regarding the database issue. After thinking about it, I realized that I should have informed your team that you were to update the database throughout the year. My apologies for failing to communicate this expectation. However, we have a team ready to help you get the work done. I know you need the report by this Friday, so please give me a call to get going. Thank you.”

After sharing this story with colleagues, some tell me that I should put Steve in his place. I should let him know that he is wrong for expecting us to do their work. I see the point shared by business associates, but I’m confident that teaching Steve a lesson will do little good in the long run. The next year Steve was just as difficult on us as before, but this was a major contract for our company. Thankfully, he was up for retirement, and a new point-of-contact was assigned. This person was nice, professional, and reasonable.

There are times when we need to take a tough stance with customers. In some cases, we can tell them that we’re no longer interested in doing business with them. However, my experience has shown that taking the high-road will work most of the time.

There are far too many people preparing for the PMP^® exam who lack a plan. If you ask them how many hours they are going to study, they might respond as follows: “I guess I’ll know it when I’m ready.” This means they could literally study 200 or more!

The 1,000 Hour Study Plan

Not long ago I heard that a PMP^® trainer was promoting a 1,000-hour plan to prepare for the exam. If you do the math, 1,000 hours translates to 25 weeks of study time. Heck … you might be able to earn all the PMI certifications by putting in this amount of time. If the PMP^® were so hard that one needed to invest half a year to prepare, I doubt that many people would take it. Thus, you can see that I’m not a fan of this study approach.

Time to Get Serious

Before you decide to prepare for the PMP^® exam, it’s critical that you are serious about going through the process. I remember teaching a PMP^® prep course to a group of 10 employees. The business owner told me that she was paying for the training, and that the attendees were planning to take the exam shortly after the session. The students were eager during the class, and I felt that with a concerted study effort most of them could pass the PMP^®.

Here’s where it gets interesting … a month after the training, one person contacted me and asked if I could remind him of the key areas he should study. He also mentioned the following: “I’m pretty sure that none of us has opened the books since the training.” From my experience, people are far less likely to submit the application, sit down and study, and take the exam, when someone else pays for the workshop. Because it’s other people’s money (OPM), the pain of losing an investment is of little importance.

The 30-Day Plan

The point I’m making is that before engaging in any study plan it’s imperative that you’re ready to make the commitment. Once you’re set, I recommend a 30-day plan where you commit about 10 hours per week. Let’s say that you study an hour per day during the week, and another 5 hours on the weekends. By taking this approach, you can complete about 40 hours over a month.

Of course, make sure that you’ve taken a PMP^® prep course. The information shared in these workshops is invaluable. For example, I spend about 30% of my time teaching test-taking skills. While knowing the concepts matters, one must also know the steps necessary to pick the BEST answer. The exam writers are taught to make questions hard and tricky. By doing so, they maintain the rigor that PMI wants to see.

I remember the day I took the Project Management Professional (PMP)^® exam. It was a hot Friday afternoon in San Antonio, Texas, when I walked into the Prometric testing center. My study plan was 30 days, and I hit the books every day leading up to the exam. Even though I committed more than 200 hours to prepare, I still felt there were many gaps that could be exposed on the exam. I was right!

Studying Too Much is a Problem

As a PMP^® test prep trainer, I inform my students that 60-to-80 hours is more than sufficient to get ready for the exam. My take is that people who spend more than 100 hours are wasting their time. The point here is that if one uses the right material to prepare, and learns test-taking skills, they can do well with a condensed study schedule.

I also made the huge mistake of taking 200 sample questions on the morning of the exam. I thought this was going to be a smart move because I could review questions and concepts that might arise on the exam. The problem with this approach is that I was wiped out by the time my 12:30 p.m. exam started. It felt like taking two major exams in one day. Today, I recommend that students avoid taking any practice exams 24 hours prior to their test. Instead, this time should be used to ensure one knows the major concepts, such as the 5 process groups, 10 knowledge areas, and 47 processes.

The Exam

The key to doing well on the PMP^® requires that you have excellent test-taking skills. You are asked to pick the best answer, and not the right answer. There’s a notable difference between the two.

Here’s an example:

The following is responsible for collecting lessons learned:

1. Project manager
2. Stakeholder
3. Vendor
4. Team member

Here are the right answers: (1) Project manager, (3) Vendor, and (4) Team member. However, the best answer is (2) Stakeholders. Why? Stakeholders includes the rest of the roles noted here. To get this question right, you must know the concepts and terminology in the PMBOK^® Guide. The more you are familiar with how PMI words questions, the easier time you will have selecting the correct answer.

Think Before Answering

There are many test-takers who fall in love with an answer before thinking through the remaining options. It’s imperative that you read all the possible answers to determine which ones can be eliminated. The exam writers purposely include at least one item known as the distractor. This is the option that is absolutely wrong, but it might look good. The art of eliminating an option can make a huge difference on your overall score. From my experience, there are generally two answers that you can discard. Make sure to take your team before making the final selection.

Takeaway

The people who pass the PMP^® exam know that preparation is mandatory. You cannot walk off the street and do well on this test. I know some people who say the following: “I’ve managed projects for 30 years, so this exam will not be a problem for me.” By engaging in this lackadaisical and overconfident attitude, these folks will fail. The PMP^® is a standardized exam, which means that we must take a methodological and procedural approach to every question. The technique is easy to learn, but it requires significant practice.

About the Author

Dr. Jimmie Flores is the CEO of Kool Derby Academy. We are committed to helping individuals earn their PMP^® credential. For information about our program, please visit us here: http://www.koolderby.com/pmp-pass-suite/

To guarantee the success of a project, whether you are using Agile or Waterfall, it’s essential that everyone involved — from the development team to the customer, and everyone in between — is in the loop at all times. All stakeholders should receive regular updates with accurate information about how the project is progressing. In fact, the leadership team should be transparent about nearly all aspects of the project.

The truth helps

As a product owner, I spend many hours working directly with customers, and many of these visits are face-to-face. This type of interaction is beneficial because I can observe their nonverbal communications. I know if they are happy or upset with our service, and I get a real-time sense of their reactions.

After each meeting, I create a summary and send it to the whole team. I’m straightforward about what occurred during the customer meeting. I want my team to know exactly how the customer feels, whether it’s good, bad, or indifferent.

Here are some examples:

• Customer A: “We’re concerned that the quiz feature doesn’t work with Firefox. It’s important that you take care of this issue.”
• Customer B: “Wow! The simulator you built is excellent! It’s a great way to visualize the operation from start to finish. Good job!”

Given that I take notes immediately after customer meetings, the comments I provide are exact. When a point needs to be resolved immediately, we schedule a meeting to work on it before it becomes a problem.

Avoid keeping secrets

Historically, only the top brass was aware of the company’s performance. That’s nonsense! Everyone in the organization must understand how his or her work affects the bottom line.

If the company is doing well, share that information. You don’t have to post every financial detail, but you can say something like: “We increased sales by 14 percent in the last quarter, and most of that success is because Project Delta was a hit! You know that Maureen is leading that division, and we’re going to work with her to see how we can apply that knowledge in other departments. Awesome, team!”

Avoid the blame game

Smart leaders know that everyone is accountable. While a person, team, or department may have made a mistake to cause a problem, the buck stops with the leadership team. In many cases, poor communication led to the mishap.

Even when the mistake is attributable to someone else, the issue is still leadership-related. The point here is to think about the customer. Regardless of who is to blame, take action to get the situation resolved. Just as important, immediately follow up with a root cause analysis to prevent future problems.

For example, a team member once erroneously responded to a customer when the email was intended for another a person in our organization. The email started something like this: “Wow! This customer sure is stupid! We’ve explained the situation to him several times, but he doesn’t get it!” From a leadership perspective, I discussed the situation with the customer and apologized for the unprofessional email. To my surprise, the customer found the situation somewhat humorous, and he and I joked about it several weeks later during a business dinner.

However, all kidding aside, this was a serious mistake by the team member. We immediately made changes to prevent this from happening again. Now, no one in our organization, including the leadership team, forwards emails. Instead, everyone is instructed to copy the relevant content into another email and send it to the appropriate party. This change was instituted several years ago, and we haven’t had any mishaps since then.

The point here is that, while the team member was at fault for making an unprofessional comment about a valued customer, the leadership team was committed to identifying the underlying cause that led to the unfortunate situation. Simple processes lead to effective results, and the top management team must drive them. The end result is that the customer is still with us today, and so is the team member. Just as important, our company was able to take a negative situation and convert it into a learning experience that has since led to other process-oriented improvements.

Takeaway

“Drowning them in transparency” means sharing the truth with everyone in the organization. Doing so creates a culture of accountability. People are more interested in the company where they work, and in the work that they do, when they understand how their work effort affects the direction of the greater organization. They feel empowered knowing that their work, their presence, matters in the big picture.

Even when sharing bad news, the leadership team must keep a positive outlook. Doing so teaches team members to look for ways to solve problems. Most issues can be solved with a professional and proactive approach. Remember that keeping the customer in the loop is a key aspect of transparency.

In the past few months, I’ve noticed a man who runs holding the American flag. I found the sight somewhat unusual when I first saw him. However, it was near Independence Day, so I suppose it did make some sense. Over the course of the next month, and even after July 4^th, he was still running with the flag.

Hard to Do

Like any other American, I’m proud of anything red-white-and-blue. The symbolism that it represents is undeniable. We know the many lives that were lost to allow us this freedom. We’re so fortunate.

With that said, I find that jogging in the hot sun is tough enough without having to carry anything, especially a pole with a flag on it. It would seem to me that he could wear a shirt or shorts that had the American symbol on it.

I know that I don’t know the entire story. Carrying the flag during his daily run represents something meaningful to him. There’s no doubt that he has a strong motivation, and he doesn’t care what other people think. I’m sure he knows that people are giving him a double- or triple-take. In my case, I made a U-turn to come back and snap some pictures. You have to admit, the sight is a bit unusual.

Do What Feels Right to You

The more I pondered the flag-running man, the more I realized that there is an important lesson here. There are times when we’re told that we shouldn’t do this or that because it doesn’t look right. In other words, other people are often dictating what we should do and think.

For example, you might have an interest in learning how to play the piano, but a friend tells you that you don’t have the ear for music or that you’re too old to consider this opportunity. Before long, you start believing what others say and decide he or she is right. This example shows why many people get stuck in a rut, and never find their way out of it.

Looking Awkward is Okay

When you try something new, you’re bound to look a bit awkward, and perhaps even foolish. It’s okay! It takes time to learn the steps to a new dance or to feel comfortable giving a speech to a large audience. After a few tries, however, you will become a better dancer and an effective orator. The awkwardness will also go away.

My guess is that I will not be running with the American flag anytime soon. However, the runner taught me that he doesn’t care what I think. He overcame the fear of what others might say, and he just did it. I’m sure that he’s proud of who he is and what the flag represents.  Isn’t that what really matters?

The next time someone attempts to squash one of your ideas, think about the jogger with the USA flag. If the idea really means something to you, run with it. The other option is to stand still and watch people pass you by. Of the two options, I would rather take my chances and get in the race.