Refuse Help That Prevents Greater Things from Happening (And Other Lessons I Learned from My Current Project)

I recently had the opportunity at work to accept help from a new resource. Accepting his help would have taken a lot off my plate and freed me to do other things; it would have taken a lot of stress from me. I came to find out after the resource was provided to me that he was also expected by a paying customer at the same time in her group full time. Because my project has a limited life and I believe I have no more right to the resource than a paying customer, I decided to let the resource "go" and I am now back working primarily by myself really long hours again; it's not fun. But I don't regret the decision at all; it's better for everyone (except for maybe me, now)…I'll elaborate.

Other than this lesson on the project I've learned a lot of other things, too. Below is a list of my top lessons from this project.

Some quick background first: I'm new to the company, new to the client group, and new to the type of project/product being produced: a reporting system re-engineering existing reports and merging several systems into one. I've been with the company for just under three months now and was hired on this project as a business analyst / delivery project manager.

Top 15 Lessons from my current project:

1. Ask hard and tough (AKA good) questions in job interviews about what the project you'll be working on is, who the team is, and what other projects the team is working on; don't get involved in projects that are under-staffed. Ask about the company's recruiting plan if you identify that there are not sufficient resources to finish the project to the customer's timeline.
   
2. If the project is getting behind, don't be a fall-guy / hero and jump in and do the work yourself; raise it up the foodchain and stick to your role as manager; not doer. This is one of the primary places where I fell down on this project.
   
3. Ask what priority your project is in the overall scheme of things within the company.
   
4. Ask if the project is "just a project" or if it is more likely a larger program / sales opportunity.
   
5. Ask the company about how they think about and implement work-life balance
   
6. If a long-standing technical resource on the project tells you that a request from the customer is non-standard and out of the norm, raise that issue up the flag-pole as fast as you far as you can and as soon as you can.
   
7. Be good about openly communicating risks; don't be paranoid.
   
8. Don't start in groups where you are expected to be a subject matter expert from Day 1 if you are not a subject matter expert.
   
9. Be willing to make timelines that project a ways out; they can always change. Think of things "thematically" and long-term.
   
10. Never let non-technical managers drive technical meetings or participate in coding sessions. Follow "Pig and Chicken" rules. Chickens like sales people are only partially committed while you as a pig are on the line to deliver it all.
    
11. Create an "electric fence" between the Pigs and Chickens (engineering/delivery side and sales side of the business). Don't let these two worlds cross-pollinate at the lowest levels of the organization but ensure that there is a VERY STRONG interface between these sides at the higher levels of the organization. Without this interface/partnership/discourse you really don't have a business at all; rather confusion, finger-pointing, unfulfilled expections, ridiculously long "death marches", and customers left in the dark.
    
12. Kill "old school" project managers who try to manage everything by dates and matrices. Not everything will fit in the matrix so forget about it. Keep a product and task backlog and share it with everyone. Buy and use good IT tools like AxoSoft On-Time for managing your projects. Make sure everyone has an account.
    
13. Establish a recurring delivery cadence and rules about work-life balance. Don't expect the project team to kill itself to make the customer happy.
    
14. Stop the sales side of your business NOW if your supply side (hiring or delivery processes) cannot keep up with the demand.
    
15. Always think mathematically and in a clear, data-driven way about demand (who needs what by when) and supply (can we get it to them)?
    

Overall I learned in this project that business is about risk and taking risks. Some people can tolerate more risk than others. I took this job not thinking of it as a risk but an opportunity. It has definitely been an opportunity for me to learn a lot about this organization and about getting things done. I also learned about a new subject area: report system automation and system integration.

I hope that my company matures its operations rapidly, that my current project wraps successfully and becomes a program/lasting account, and that my next project is fun, insightful, and does not require so many hours. (I worked a 14 hour day today BTW, and two weeks ago I worked 40 hours in three days. That is NOT THE GOAL!)