LAST YEAR, our IT program delivery group noticed that traditional communication methods were no longer effective. Our weekly check-ins with project managers weren't frequent enough for project managers to raise issues promptly. We also noticed that program managers would forget about reported issues because we were not diligent in recording and regularly reviewing issues.
We needed more frequent meetings to help us resolve issues soon after they occurred—and before they escalated to critical importance. However, we needed a time-sensitive format that would help encourage people to sacrifice more time in their busy schedules and attend. If meetings were too long or too frequent, team members would not support them.
Taking a Stand
The solution: the huddle concept, gleaned from lean principles. Traditionally, these 10-minute daily meetings require all participants to stand to ensure quick discussion.
But we made a few adaptations to fit our needs. We scheduled biweekly meetings consisting of all program and project managers. Our initial huddles were scheduled for 30 minutes, but this time has since been cut in half now that we are experienced at executing quick meetings.
During every huddle, each project manager in the program has two minutes to speak about his or her project and state whether any issues need escalation. For example, a project manager may report a sponsor is unresponsive to project requests, and a program manager can step in.
To help track these issues, we created a huddle board, a piece of laminated plotter paper posted on the wall of the meeting room. The visual representation allows program managers to easily see which projects require their attention first. It also gives us a starting point for each huddle: We review each escalation on the board, and tick off the resolved issues or develop new plans of action for those unresolved.
Learning to Talk
We thought this custom huddle system would solve our communications woes. But our group encountered a few challenges after launching it.
Most team members are in the office each day, but a handful work at different locations, making it difficult for everyone to contribute to huddles. To address this problem, we opened a teleconference line at each meeting.
Still, virtual workers couldn't see the huddle board. So we are now investigating options to make a digital representation of our huddle board to share with remote workers.
Another challenge is shyness. Huddles are about communication, but more reserved members hesitate to speak up. Even the extroverts find the meetings' mission—to identify projects' pain points—difficult to talk about. They may be too proud or nervous to ask for help as they may see it as an admission of weakness.
To help communication flow, we removed the red/green traffic light system of the typical project dashboard. We also do not use terminology such as “needs help,” “red project” or “low confidence.” Instead, we ask whether or not projects “need attention,” which focuses the conversation on the actions required, not problems occurring.
Baby Steps
Our huddle is still in its infancy, but we are starting to see benefits. When I've spoken with program managers about it, I've discovered they feel better able to track which projects need their involvement. We've learned the huddle is a powerful method for improving communication between program and project managers. PM
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John Pitchko, PMP, is a program manager at oil and gas company Shell, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.