At first glance, the planning activities and the subsequent projects that come out of them may look daunting so it makes good sense to have a process in place for each project. Remember, successful completion of projects will gain you positive visibility with senior management and bring you closer to your planning goals. Use the following steps to complete projects.

1. Define the Project

While you are defining what needs to be accomplished also identify the barriers to your success (these likely came out during the planning process). For example, people in your company may hold many conflicting views about the best way to reach a goal so discovering the basis of these conflicting perspectives (while gathering hard data) is critical to your success as you move forward with your projects. Even if you have been handed a certain assignment, you need to sift through the information from each source and focus on a particular target. In addition you may not have the promise of resources or support and you may need to call on the cooperation of others to accomplish the task. Begin by observing the issue at hand, listen to a stream of information from superiors and peers and then identify a perceived need. Spend time talking with people outside your own function.

2. Build Support

Many projects don't have the initial support of top management--the promise of capital expenditures, or assistance for additional resources. Sometimes you may be told that if can raise the money you can go ahead with the project. So getting support from peers or senior management is critical. Your supporters also don't play a passive role; their comments, criticism, and objectives help shape the project into one that is more likely to succeed. Whether the players are subordinates or a special project group such a task force, managers must forge them into a team.

3. Moving to Action

Think about human nature for a moment. People want to come out of a meeting knowing they have solved a problem and most people would rather have fun at work. So, personal enthusiasm is the initial energizer of project success. And that enthusiasm feeds on itself. People don't want to get bogged down in dialogue at work; they want to be part of a team that's fun to work with and produces results for which they are proud. So the starting point for managers is to invest some time to change how people work together.

As a manager you can bring people involved in a project together, give them briefings and assignments, pump them up for the extra effort needed, seek their ideas and suggestions (both as a way to involve them and as a way to further refine the project), and promise them a share of the rewards. It often takes more selling than telling to move a project to action.

Managers may contribute ideas or even get involved in hands-on experimentation, but their primary functions are still largely external and organizational, centered on maintaining the boundaries and integrity of the project. There are four organizational tasks that bring a project to action.

• Handle interference or opposition that may jeopardize the project. Resistance can take a passive form: criticism of the plan's details, foot-dragging, late responses to requests, or arguments over allocation of time and resources for the project. Managers may find themselves in many meetings, both formal and one-on-one because of interference. Prepare thoroughly for these meetings to counter scepticism and objections with clear facts, persuasion, and reminders of the benefits that can accrue to those responsible for meeting the project's objectives. Be aware that you may need to go outside your work group to head off critics and to keep people or rules imposed by higher management from disrupting project tasks.
  
• Maintain momentum and continuity from internal sources on your project. Foot-dragging or inactivity is a constant danger, especially when the project adds to current workloads. Managers must sustain enthusiasm of all involved-from supporters to suppliers-by being persistent and keeping the team aware of supporters who are waiting for results. Some ways to do this are by holding daily meetings with the core team, putting out a weekly status report, and making frequent presentations to top management. If that doesn't work try having a big boss visit to remind everyone just how important the project is.
  
• Engage in redesign or changes that are necessary to keep the project going. For example, introduce new arrangements to run alongside the core tasks or change the structure or approach to keep the project from getting bogged down. Changes can cause a redoubling of effort and renewed attack on the problem. But, a side benefit may be unplanned innovations for the company.
  
• External communication brings the accomplishment of the project full circle. It is vital to manage peers and key supporters with information that impresses the importance of the project and its success.

As much as possible your goals are to meet deadlines, deliver early benefits to others, and keep supporters supplied with information. Doing so establishes the credibility of both you and the project, even before concrete results are shown.

Cross Border News

Older and Better Paid-A study of 293 public companies in Canada by Patrick O'Callaghan & Associations and Korn/Ferry International found that the percentage of directors who are 71 or older has been consistently rising, hitting 13 per cent in 2003 from 8 per cent in 1996. Meanwhile the number of directors between 51 and 60 has dropped to 29 per cent from 35 per cent in l996.

In an article in The Globe and Mail, Mr. O'Callaghan said the slow upward shift in ages seems to contradict the public perception that boards have fewer older directors because more are implementing mandatory retirement rules. In fact, the study found that only 18 of the 293 companies disclosed a retirement rule for directors last year. Mr. O'Callaghan went on to say companies are doing more work to identify skill gaps on their boards, and are doing more rigorous annual performance reviews of directors. Both processes make it easier to ask weak board members to step down without relying on retirement rules.

The study also found that large companies' boards are steadily shrinking in size while smaller companies are growing their boards. Companies with $5 billion or more in assets had an average of 13 directors last year down from 20 in 1993. Only 3 per cent have more than 20 directors, compared to 30 per cent a decade ago. Smaller companies are moving in the opposite direction as they increasingly set up independent audit, compensation and nominating committees. In 2003, 77 per cent of companies with less than $500-million in assets had boards of six to nine members compared to 58 per cent in 1994. Seven per cent continue to have fewer than five directors.

The survey also found that 14 per cent of companies publish a formal CSR report (Corporate Social Responsibility), while 40 per cent provide at least some CSR information in their annual reports and/or on their websites on social topics beyond financial performance such as environmental practices, employee hiring policies, or product sourcing rules.

One other point is that while compensation is much more of a factor in recruiting directors, especially for smaller companies, many companies are requiring directors to hold a large number of shares or share units. 37 per cent of the boards have mandatory share ownership requirements last year, up from 20 per cent in 2002.

Lastly, the survey found that 47 per cent of boards had at least one female director in 2003 compared with 46 per cent in 1996 and 70 per cent of boards split roles of the chairperson and CEO in 2003 compared to 52 per cent in 1996.

Crossing the Border-Linda has headed to Dallas to work on two new projects, including taking up the responsibility for heading up the marketing committee at the Children's Craniofacial Association located in Dallas. For the next few months Linda will be traveling between Dallas and Toronto. Work continues with the Toronto Construction Association and with two new projects: one with a Toronto sheet metal company and the other with the Human Resources Association of Ontario. During these next few months, Linda's telephone calls in Dallas and Toronto will be forwarded to her cell phone for ease of reach.

G-What?

Just when you thought you understood the what's what of Webmail, Google has released a new Webmail application called Gmail--a new e-mail system that allows for the newest kind of highly-targeted e-mail advertising. But Gmail is technically in beta version, competing with subscribers from its competitors Hotmail and Yahoo according to an article by Kirill Popov and Loren McDonald of EmailLabs. Popov and McDonald claim that, on average, Gmail comprised 0.1% of B2C marketers' lists, whereas Hotmail claimed 14.9% and Yahoo! had 14.2%. Similarly for B2B clients of EmailLabs, Gmail claimed the lowest percentage of the sample lists, but at a slightly higher 0.2% of the composition.

Return Path has also been watching Gmail trends closely, reporting that the number of users of its e-mail address change tools who signed up for Gmail grew from 375 in July to 2,396 in September. Return Path predicts that consumers were twice as likely to convert to Gmail from Hotmail in Q3 as they were from Yahoo!.

EmailLabs estimates that between 1.5 million and 2 million people are now registered Gmail users and projects that this base could grow to between 5 million and 10 million over the next year. Popov and McDonald also noted in a ClickZ article, "Gmail will clearly be a force to be reckoned with for e-mail marketers. With currently negligible market penetration, marketers should use this opportunity to test, tweak and analyze their Gmail messages and results."

Superior Performers 

Living High
Little did Gerard O'Connell know when he was a kid hanging off the sides of bridges and playing chicken with his twin brother that his career would take him to his occupation as window cleaner. As I looked out my 10 story building watching my window washers clean the building I office in, in Toronto, I couldn't help think that Gerard's performance was quite a bit better than the crew my building employed and that the dangers they face are much less than what Gerard faces everyday cleaning the tallest buildings in Toronto.

What lesson can we learn from Gerard? Think about your own performance every day. Seems like we never think that our work performance impacts anyone but it does. And we take ourselves and others for granted. Here's 45 year old Gerard, who may not seem like he has an important job to some, getting a rush from washing 1,200 windows in one day and gushing how his arms feel like rubber. Day in and day out, windows are being washed and many other tasks are being performed by other people who help us maintain our superior performance. What makes Gerard a superior performer is his positive attitude and the fact he strives to become better everyday. We can all learn a lesson from him.

Linda in Print  

Please give us feedback on this issue of The Superior Performance Report (click here) and let us hear your insights and what you would like to hear about next time.

Copyright 2003 by LLH Enterprises-reproduction for publication is encouraged, with the following attribution: From "The Superior Performance Report," by Linda Hanson, CMC, www.llhenterprises.com.

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