In my career, I’ve managed many projects of varied size, scope and budget. From a couple people and a couple thousand dollars, to global efforts encompassing hundreds of employees and millions of dollars. However, when I look back, I notice 5 attributes common among the most successful projects. I call these attributes the Inverted Pyramid of Project Success and it goes like this:

1. Business Objectives: Different people give this different names. Some call it “executive alignment”, others “leadership agendas”  or “corporate goals”. In essence, this bottom tip of the inverted pyramid is all about gaining support from the top-down (or in this case, bottom-up). A project that is aligned with overall business objectives will garner support when needed.

2. Shared Accountability: From your customers, partners and all stakeholders, it is important to share accountability for overall success. If any particular stakeholder group has no accountability, they will lack sufficient motivation for their participation or deliverables.

3. Comprehensive Requirements: Too many projects start without really understanding what is needed for success. Comprehensive requirements drive accurate budgets, timelines and resource plans. Capturing all requirements also drives understanding and thorough prioritization vital to successful decision making.

4. Strong Relationships: Most projects require some give-and-take. Tradeoffs will be necessary and often, stakeholders need to trust each other to deliver on commitments. There will be trying times, especially in larger projects and high risk efforts. On the twisting road of project management, strong relationships smooth the bumps and straighten the line.

5. Servant Leadership: It is important that all stakeholders, but especially the project manager, reflect the attitude and principles of servant leadership. As the team recognizes the selfless attitude, dedication to the team, and overall focus on serving the needs of the organization, greater motivation, teamwork and results are achieved.

As you climb the inverted pyramid from bottom to the top, you spend more time and effort on each step. Furthermore, while each step may occur throughout the project life cycle, it is important to first focus on each step in order. In other words, in the very beginning of the project, it is important to ensure alignment with business objectives. It is also important to ensure shared accountability before developing comprehensive requirements. The exception is servant leadership, which is critical to practice throughout, from the very beginning.

When it comes right down to it, the most successful projects contain all attributes of this inverted pyramid. Can your project be successful without one or more components? Sure. However, from my experience, the best way to ensure your project’s overall success is to build it upon the Inverted Pyramid of Project Success.

Question: What would you add to the inverted pyramid of project success?

The beginning of 2011 brings with it news of a student servant leadership club that’s fighting their teacher’s cancer and a prominent servant leadership center changing it’s name. There are also great blog posts, including articles on servant leadership in the software development, project management and nursing fields as well as a great post on the importance of confidence for servant leaders. Although updates for the Events section are light this month, there remains plenty to keep us busy and reading here – enjoy! And, as always, please drop some feedback on The Modern Servant Leader.

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Topics: Events | News | Blogs | ModernServantLeader.com

NEWS

The Journal-Standard: Students Raise Funds for Teacher Battling Cancer
A group of students in a servant leadership program tackle a fund raiser to help their local teacher fight breast cancer.

Daily News (Tanzania): Agents of Change and Servant Leadership
Columnist Young Kimaro reported on a sermon by Clive Ashton from the Training for Life program in Moshi and Morogoro at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) chapel in Moshi. Kimaro reflected: “Yes, the world has its share of lesser and undeserving beings holding power… Clinging to power unto death by such leaders has bloodied Sudan, Zimbabwe, Ivory Coast and others, tainting and impoverishing the continent.”

Small Business Advocate: The Pinnacle of Leadership is Servant Leadership
Jim Blasingame of Small Business Radio on the Small Business Advocate, conducted a brief (6 minute) interview of Len Marrella, author of “In Search of Ethics” on the topic of Servant Leadership.

Emmanuel College: Inaugural G. Earl Beatty Honorary Servant Leadership Award
Emmanuel College established a new annual award for Servant Leadership. In it’s inaugural year, the award was presented to the man who’s name the award will bare: Dr. G. Earl Beatty, the retired Executive Vice President of the college.

Greenleaf Center: Greenleaf Scholars Submissions Due March 14th
From Greenleaf.org: “The purpose of the program is to select and support promising early career scholars and professionals who wish to study the impact of servant leadership…”. All submissions are due by March 14th.

Collective Voices: Collective Voices (formerly Northfork Center for Servant Leadership)
Just weeks after I named Dr. Jack King the top servant leadership Tweeter in 2010, the organization he promotes changed it’s name from NorthFork Center for Servant Leadership to Collective Voices! Of course, they’re still doing great things for servant leaders.

EVENTS

Greenleaf Center: Leadership Institute for Educators (LIFE)
A reminder from last month: The Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership will host its 17th Leadership Institute for Educators (LIFE) Conference on March 3-4, 2011 in Downtown Indianapolis.

BLOGS

Suite101.com: Leadership Styles in Nursing: A Comparison of Charismatic vs. Servant Leadership
In this post, author and registered nurse, Donna Owen, compares and contrasts Charismatic Leadership vs. Servant Leadership as well as the term management vs. leadership.

International Community of Project Managers: Servant Leadership (Egoism, Utilitarianism, Altruism)
Author Derek Huether does an excellent job of summarizing, in short from, why he chooses to practice servant leadership in his field of project management. Included in his post is a great graphic and comparison between Egoism, Utilitarianism and Altruism.

Leadership With Sass: Having the Confidence to Serve
Linda Sasser wrote this great post on an often overlooked attribute of Servant Leadership – confidence. In the post, Sasser explains how, especially in today’s society, servant leaders must have the confidence to serve and build their teams to be the best possible.

Johan Mathson: Leadership and Love – Why They Are a Perfect Match
In this blog post, Mathson writes on Ken Blanchard and Colleen Barrett’s new book, Lead With LUV: A Different Way to Create Real Success. The post includes reflections from Southwest Airlines, of course, as well as WD-40 Company.

Call of the Wild: Leadership Tip From The Prime Minister David Cameron
On the Call of the Wild (Corporate Development Events) the blog suggests the current UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, represents servant leadership when calling for banks to pay smaller bonuses and become more socially responsible.

Sojourners: On Becoming a Servant Leader, Seven myths and seven paradoxes of Christian leadership
Author Dan R. Ebener explores seven myths and paradoxes of Christian Servant Leadership – most of which are relevant to all forms of servant leadership.

Scrum Alliance: Achieving Agile Leadership
Author Heitor Roriz Filho reflects on a couple of different leadership styles, especially situational and servant leadership, then considers their implications in Agile development leadership positions: “For the Agile Leader, servanthood is the strategy.”

January Posts from The Modern Servant Leader

• Why You Need A Decision Document (Resource)
• Situational Leadership? Try Consistent Leadership Instead
• Do You Steal From Tomorrow?
• 5 Questions Every Interviewer Should Ask for Servant Leaders
• Servant Leadership Observer – January 2011
• Servant Leadership Interest by Region, State and City
• Comprehensive Return On Investment – The Secret of Measuring Human Impact (Resource)
• Top 5 Servant Leadership Tweeters in 2010

Just what you need – another formality, process or roadblock, right? Wrong! Used in the right manner, a decision document can be informal, help you break through processes and speed up your initiative. So what exactly is a decision document and when and how do you use one to your advantage? Hold on to your britches, we will go through an executive overview of this tool and I’ll provide a template for you at the end.

What is a Decision Document?

A decision document is a tool for capturing the status of a current program, project, initiative or other investment which has come to a fork in the road. Now, an important decision must be made and the team of decision makers needs to be aligned on what options exist, make a selection, document why the option was chosen and by whom, for future reference. Used properly, it is not a CYA solution but a tool for providing clarity, expediting alignment and removing barriers to success. A decision document…

• Aligns key stake holders on current status, a particular issue or challenge and options to consider
• Explains each option, the relevant benefits and risks
• Documents which decision is made, by whom and when
• Provides a record of accountability and drives support by decision makers

When Should a Decision Document Be Used?

There are many scenarios in which a decision document may be useful. Some examples include when the decision to be made is not clear to those who must make the decision. For example, if the project is very detailed or technical in nature but the investment decision goes to a very senior level of leadership not familiar with those details. Another scenario may be in a fast-paced project where the leadership have little time to dig into the details. Furthermore, highly regulated or sensitive environments such as food and drug industries or security matters may benefit from regular use of this tool. Of course, these documents can be useful in highly political or confrontational environments to ensure support and alignment is maintained throughout as well.

What are the Primary Components of a Decision Document?

Each decision document may have its own terminology. However, in essence each document should include the following primary sections:

1. Decision to be Made

In this section, describe the decision that must be made. This should be very clearly stated, but succinct. This is an executive brief of what recipients of the document are being asked to decide.

2. Current Status

This section must include the who, what, when and where of the situation requiring a decision. You should also provide the history of how you came to the issue at hand. While your decision-makers need to understand the background, this requires a careful balance of providing enough history without going into exhaustive and unnecessary details. A good litmus test for content to be included here is to simply ask yourself, “is this information relevant to the decision?” In other words, would knowing the piece of history or current status detail influence the decision maker one way or another? If the answer is yes, then it is relevant enough to be included.

3. Options

Be sure to capture all relevant decisions, with an emphasis on the relevant part. This section is not to list every possible variation anyone could ever dream up. Instead, list genuine options that the decision makers could consider selecting. Depending upon the nature of your particular environment, you may want to include a section of “excluded options”. In this case, you would briefly list options that were quickly ruled out and a short statement of explanation.

For each option, explain the option in detail first. Then, in bullet or similar quick-reference fashion, highlight the positives and negatives (I prefer the position of “Benefits” and “Risks”) of each option.

4. Recommendation

This is the recommendation of the team or individual submitting the decision document for consideration. It should include a reference back to the specific option being recommended (Option #1, 2 or 3…). In addition, the reasoning for this recommendation should be captured. For example, you should explain why the recommended option is better than others. Logic such as lowest overall risk or cost are obvious reasons. Others may include a balance of risk and costs or time sensitivity.

5. Decision

Here, you document the decision the team agreed to. If you’ve done your legwork prior to submission, you may anticipate the chosen option. In this case, you may want to document the chosen option (anticipated) when presenting the document for signatures / approvals.

6. Next Steps

Based on the decision being made, what actions must happen next? This may not be required in all cases, but it is often helpful in ensuring the right actions happen in a timely manner. In addition, key decisions that require documentation like this often stem from a problem and include lessons learned or opportunities to avoid a recurrence. This section may also be useful for capturing this information.

7. Sign Off

If deemed necessary, here the decision-makers physically sign the document. Most of the time though, a simple email confirming approval and alignment is sufficient form the individuals.

Decision Document Example Templates

Below is a sample template of a decision document following the above format. I’ve provided it in Microsoft Word 2003, 2007 and Adobe Acrobat formats:

• Word 2003 (and earlier)
• Word 2007+
• Adobe Acrobat

Question: Have you ever used a decision document? How did it help you and / or your team?

Have you ever been frustrated by prioritization decisions that focused on a single, hard benefit in the return on investment (ROI), without looking at the bigger picture? If so, you’re not alone and the comprehensive return on investment (CROI) may be what you’re looking for. Too often, executives make decisions based on a single factor – often a hard financial benefit. Critical business decisions like the traditional, anticipated return on investment ignore the human factor and organization development opportunities. Consideration of the comprehensive return on investment may yield a very different investment decision.

In  my contribution to Business-Driven PMO Setup, I wrote about the importance of focusing on the Comprehensive ROI:

The complete return on investment for a project looks far beyond the cost savings, efficiency improvements or other direct benefits of the project deliverables. The servant-leader project manager recognizes that equally important are factors such as employee morale, staff development, sustainability of the solution and net impact to all stakeholders.

Unlike traditional ROI analysis, the Comprehensive ROI encompasses the full benefit.

Traditional ROI (Return On Investment)

Traditional ROI is calculated as follows: ((Profit – Investment) / Investment) and is therefore expressed as a percentage. For example, if you’re project nets a $500 increase in revenue and cost you $450 to complete, the ROI for your project is ($500-$450)/$450 or 11%. However, in focusing solely on the hard benefits, such as increased income, this calculation does not accurately reflect the Comprehensive Return On Investment. Traditional ROI does not capture the benefits from the effort of a project or investment.

Comprehensive Return On Investment (CROI)

A comprehensive return on investment assessment (CROI) includes the benefits from the effort when calculating the final percentage. For example, did the project team develop new skills during the design and development phases? If so, what would those skill have cost you to develop in the team, were it not for the project? What about employee engagement? Is your human resources team likely to document less turnover or decreased total costs through an appropriate investment and budget? On the other hand, if you choose not to invest properly for the project budget, are you accounting for the anticipated turnover, burnout and associated costs in your ROI?

A Comprehensive Return On Investment Example

Let’s look at an example of how reflecting the Comprehensive Return On Investment could impact your decision. You can follow along in this example with the attached spreadsheet (Excel 97-2003 or Excel 2007 format) and template. Pretend you are the project manager for an effort that requires the following investment:

The anticipated benefit is:

Therefore the net profit (Increased Revenue – Total Investment) would be:

Based on these numbers, your traditional Return On Investment would be:

$1,500 / $13,500 = 11%

Now, as a better educated, servant leader, you expand on this traditional ROI analysis. Instead of stopping at the hard benefits of the final deliverable, you recognize the additional benefits from the effort, such as:

• Project Manager Development: The skills developed by 3 different project managers during their efforts on this investment were equivalent to a $1,500 training course, each. As a result, you add in this benefit, valued at $4,500.
• Intern Leadership Experience: An intern on the project would gain exposure to other leaders in the organization and develop skills equivalent to a $1,500 leadership development course.
• Employee Engagement: In speaking with your human resources department, they also estimate a reduction in the hours they spend with employees on the project, because of increased engagement. So you add a $320 benefit.
• Productivity Improvements: You estimate 300 employees, saving 15 minutes, do to productivity improvements realized from the project. Assuming $80 / hour average rate, you add a $6,000 benefit.

You add these benefits from the effort of the project and investment to your original profit:

• Original Profit from Traditional ROI: $1,500
• Additional benefits from comprehensive ROI assessment: ($4,500 + $1,500 + $320 + $ 6,000) = $12,320
• Your comprehensive benefit is therefore: $12,320 + $1,500 = $13,820

The resulting, Comprehensive ROI is ($13,820 / $13,500) = 102% – a big difference from the 11% traditional ROI.

Understanding the Real Value

Too often, leaders will use a low ROI as an excuse not to take a risk. That’s not to say every negative ROI forecast that produces a positive CROI should be executed. However, a shift from a slightly positive ROI to a much more positive CROI may be a great case to pursue and convince otherwise hesitant executives. Regardless of the result, it is your role, as a servant to the organization, to ensure leadership is equipped with valid and comprehensive data when making decisions. The use of a comprehensive return on investment in addition to the traditional ROI analysis will ensure you are providing this full picture.

Question: Have you seen a traditional ROI assessment kill a great opportunity? Have you used a comprehensive ROI before to convince key decision makers?

Stop Tailgating & Brake Checking at Work

Imagine you’re driving down the road in the passing lane, already exceeding the speed limit, when you see somebody following very close.  The tailgater’s message is clear: “I need to get somewhere and I need to get there quicker than you are going”.  Some people in this situation might “brake check” the tailgater – they slam on their breaks to send their own message.  The  brake checker’s message is equally strong: “Watch out!  If you follow too close, you may cause an accident and it will be clearly your fault.”

Does this sound familiar to disagreements at the office?  Two people are working on a project and it appears both are trying to get to the same destination.  Yet one person demands greater risks for quicker results.  This happens a lot, especially in organizations where near-term results and quarterly goals are prioritized over sustainability.  As a result, employees are often competing for who can get the job done quicker and not necessarily who gets there with the best balance of risk and reward.  Both the Brake Checker and the Tailgater have better options to serve their company.

The Brake Checker

The brake checker usually is the one that starts off in front.  They have everyone aligned, driving in the same direction. Yet it becomes apparent the objective is not pursued quickly enough for someone in the organization.  As a result, at least one individual, looking for quicker results, pushes for greater risks and speed.  There are a couple of options the current leader has:

Brake Check: The leader could do the risky tactic and slam on the brakes.  In other words, they could threaten everyone, insisting that anything they try to move quicker could  cause horrible results.  Yet, in doing so the leader puts their own credibility at risk for not considering alternatives.  The key is not to allow confrontation to exceed collaboration.

Slow Down: Instead of slamming on the brakes, the current leader could caution the contesting follower by carefully explaining the situation and risks to the organization. Instead of utilizing alarmism, a temporary slow down to carefully examine risks in all options ensures everyone understands the risks in speeding up the team.

Pull Over: Finally, if the leader has explained the risks they face, explained why she is not comfortable speeding up and still the tailgaters come with support from behind (and above), there is the option of pulling over to let the tailgater lead.  As a servant to the organization, you must make sure you’ve made your concerns clear and detailed the risks the organization faces.  Yet if the organization understands the risks and you are not comfortable accepting that level of risk, then the best way to serve, may be turn over the keys to the car.

The Tailgater

The tailgater is interested in going the same direction but is willing to take greater risks to get there faster.  They may  feel there is a better way , believe the current leader is not taking enough risks or may be for pursuing their personal ego strokes.  The tailgater may seek fame and want to be recognized for speeding up success at any cost.  Regardless of their reason, the tailgater creates risk for both individuals and the organization as a whole, in order to achieve their results.  There are also better options for the tailgater.

Flash Headlights: The tailgater could flash their headlights from a safe distance.   By sending the message to the current leader and those around them, without threatening, the follower and team can collaborate on alternative options for quicker results.  This would also call attention to the concerns from leadership, alert everyone that the current follower feels greater risks are acceptable and yet not endanger everyone around them.

Pass on Right: There may be other options to help the team get to their destination more quickly.  When the opportunity presents itself, the follower could pass on the right.  In business, the follower may be able to lead a critical piece of the project that does not threaten the organization’s overall success.  In so doing, the follower could be charged with carrying a specific load where greater risk is acceptable.

So the next time you’re driving on the road or leading a project and you feel the current leader is not taking enough risks or moving too slowly, remember you have many options to support faster progress.  Similarly, if you’re dealing with critics and followers that demand greater risks in the name of speed, understand their reasoning and respond appropriately.  Whichever role you play in the traffic friction, remember there are many options you have to best serve the organization with the optimal balance of risk and reward.

Recently published, “Business Driven PMO Setup, Practical Insights, Techniques and Case Examples for Ensuring Success”, written by Mark Price Perry, includes a chapter on the Project Management Office (PMO) as servant leaders. As Senior Vice President of Operations at BOT International, host of The PMO Podcast and a regular contributor to Gantthead.com, Perry has a wealth of hands-on experience and a keen awareness for Project Management work “in the real world”. In addition, his servant leader values were apparent not only in the book’s content, but in his approach to it’s creation as well. With 20 contributors, Mark was certain to balance his own insights with the experience and opinions of other practitioners. In fact, I was honored to be included as a contributor to the chapter on Servant Leadership.

In the chapter entitled, “Project Management Leadership: Servant-Leader vs. Subject Matter Expert”, Perry introduces the concept of servant leadership for project managers. In addition, the author presents servant leadership for the PMO in the framework of the 10 servant leadership characteristices defined by Larry Spears (Listening, Empathy, Healing, Awareness, Persuasion, Conceptualization, Foresight, Stewardship, Commitment to the Growth of People and Building Community). In addition, contributor Jennifer Arndt, PMO Manager for the American Chemical Society, wrote about Situational Leadership for project managers while Michelle LaBrosse, Founder and CEO of Cheetah Learning, wrote about How to Get What You Want.

In my contribution, entitled, “Servant Leadership for the IT Project Manager”, I explain why the project manager is best positioned in the organization to execute and / or change leadership culture in an organization, given their multiple cross-functional touchpoints. In addition, I explained that Project Managers need to look at the Complete Return On Investment (CROI) for a project, not simply the tradditional, financial perspective. In addition to the standard financial ROI, the Complete Project ROI encompasses values such as new skills obtained by the project team, team building outcomes, education of stakeholders and enhanced morale. Finally, this contribution also addressed the concerns project managers face in the times of a crisis or turnaround and how we, as servant leaders, should respond.

Mark has done an outstanding job in creating a book every Project Manager should have on their shelf and he is receiving excellent reviews as a result. The feedback implies “Mission Accomplished” for Perry as he delivered the no-nonsense, real world actionable insights that seem lacking in today’s Project Management literature and guides. I encourage you to pick up a copy (no, I do not receive a commision).

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: Mission, Goals and Objectives — Business Driven vs. Theory Driven
Chapter 2: Organization — Constituent Oriented vs. Inwardly Focused
Chapter 3: Managing Projects — Think Process, Not Methodology
Chapter 4: Managing the PMO — Embracing Flexibility vs. Mandating Conformance
Chapter 5: PMO Tools — Establishing a PMO Architecture vs. Implementing a Tool
Chapter 6: Executive Reporting — Keeping It Simple
Chapter 7: PMO Leadership — MBWA 2.0 vs. The Meeting Manager
Chapter 8: Project Management Leadership — Servant Leader vs. Subject Matter Expert
Chapter 9: Creating High Performance Teams
Chapter 10: Establishing a PMO — A Practical Roadmap
Chapter 11: Line of Business PMOs — The Ubiquitous Nature of Project Management
Chapter 12: Advancing Organizational Project Management — From Theory to Practice
Chapter 13: PMO Passion — Where does it come from?