CCEM 101 Question 5

[Carly Johansson]

Reflecting on your experience either as a consultant, or working with a consultant, share any tips or suggestions you have that lead to improved project management and outcomes.

[Jen Grebeldinger]

In my experience as a consultant, holding regular check-in meetings with clients leads to improved project management and outcomes. In particular, meetings that serve to establish a common understanding of project objectives, assumptions and methodologies are really useful to ensure there are no surprises at the end of a project. For example, if a project involves a lot of calculations and analysis, it can be helpful to host a meeting to agree on an approach and on assumptions before any analysis is completed. That way, resources can be allocated towards a product that is sure to meet client needs and project objectives.

[Jen Grebeldinger]

Emily & Ryan – I agree with you that regular check-in meetings are especially important for keeping everyone “in the loop” & aware of how things are going as well as what may need attention along the way.

I have also found that Ryan’s comments on the expectations outlined in a proposal/contract are quite important & unfortunately, learning after the fact where key deliverables are not accurately laid out (e.g. too vague or missing details), instead of having these details covered in the contract from the outset.

[Carly Johansson]

I would agree with Emily. Bi-weekly meetings with the consultant to review progress and troubleshoot challenges is a good way to manage a project. I’ve found that if there isn’t enough subject material to justify a meeting, which there often isn’t toward then end of a project once objectives and direction are pretty established, then the meetings can be cancelled.

[Jen Grebeldinger]

Being early in my career as a consultant, I haven’t had many experiences with project management or dealing with clients directly. However, one experience I had last year is worth sharing. My firm was contracted to produce a local area plan (LAP) for a local government on Vancouver Island. As part of the LAP, we were tasked with creating energy density maps to show the municipality its spatial distribution of current energy consumption. As a planning and decision-support tool, we used these energy maps to show the client what their energy and emissions could like in 25 years under business-as-usual, and what it could look like under an aggressive energy and GHG reductions scenario.

The energy density mapping process was complicated as we were learning it for the first time and the client was nebulous about what they wanted. However, we eventually had a meeting with the client to discuss these maps and determine what their expectations were, the level of complexity needed, and what the assumptions were, or needed to be. The meeting allowed us to reach a mutual understanding of the technical components and requirements of these maps. Thereafter, we had regular communication with the client about the energy density maps which greatly improved the understanding on both sides and allowed us to produce a product that they were very happy with.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 7 months ago by Jen Grebeldinger.

[Carly Johansson]

I have been involved in many different forms of the environmental sector, consulting, non-profit and government. From my days working for an environmental consulting company, I learned how important good working relationships need to be with clients – especially if they are capable of being returning clients. From the regulatory side where I was hiring and scoping work for consultants, I found open communication to be extremely important (this can’t be overstated). One place where in our North American lifestyles that sometimes gets overlooked is in written/email/text conversation where one can treat written communication like verbal, but it is almost never read that way. It is always good to re-read emails and texts prior to sending just to make sure that no undue tone or conflicting language is used. Ask yourself – If you received the email, how would you read it? This might help keep working with consultants more professional and timely – especially under tight timelines.

[Carly Johansson]

I’ve found, both as a consultant and as the contracting agency, that a strong proposal reflecting the scope and work plan for the project is another critical element to managing a consultant. The proposal should really reflect what the contractors understanding of the project is and how they intend to complete the scope of work. The project should really be about helping the consultant to do what they’ve said they’d do once the contract is in place. Unfortunately problems still arise but I’ve still found the original proposal is the place to go when troubleshooting. Needless to say effective communication is a critical element to using the proposal as a tool for addressing problems.

[Jen Grebeldinger]

I agree with Geoff’s comment about trying to make a habit of re-reading emails and other forms of written communication before pressing the send button! In my experience, a 2 minute phone call can often replace a 10+ email exchange, and can go a long way to avoiding any potential misunderstandings or hurt feelings.

[Jen Grebeldinger]

Tips or Suggestions for Improved Project Mgmt. & Outcomes …

* Pulling together a strong team to coordinate the project activities is very critical for me, creates opportunities to draw upon the individual strengths & expertise of each person involved with steering the project.

* Project lead needs to be familiar enough with the technical aspects of the project and/or easily able to draw upon expertise of the project mgmt. team and/or willing to share the load with other folks, ask for help along the way, & be receptive to feedback, concerns, input that is shared by folks involved with the project.

* Regular meetings/conversations to catch-up, trouble-shoot, & move things forward is critical, as I mentioned in my replies to Emily & Ryan. Given the remote location of Ft. Simpson, in the SW corner of the NWT, such meetings are often held over the phone, Skype, and using various conference calling/sharing techniques after having at least one or two initial meetings in-person to establish connections and momentum with the team I am working with.

* On the helpful tools side of project management, I am very pleased to be able to utilize the Electronic Mind-Mapping software created by MindGenius http://www.mindgenius.com/ … others are out there too Free Mind (open source software or other open sourced applications: http://www.top5freeware.com/mind-mapping-software-for-windows).

* Lastly, wherever possible, keep it simple, share roles/delegate to tap into each other’s strengths/passions, review progress regularly to keep things on track & adjust along the way, & most importantly, … HAVE FUN & celebrate your successes along the way & when the whole thing is over! 🙂

[Carly Johansson]

Teresa
Thanks for those helpful pointers – I will check out the mind mapping software suggestion. One other thing occurs to me that should go without saying, but is often missed and can cause issues through some projects – record meeting minutes. By this I mean, even a phone conversation should be recapped over a written description via email if any significant project points were discussed – that way there is a written record that both parties can see and correct as needed before you are past some critical point and have disagreement as to what was to happen. Seems like a no-brainer, but I’ve seen what can happen if this little trick is not used and one is working with a project team that is not very cohesive or in cases of multiple stakeholders.

[Carly Johansson]

Teresa – totally agree on the have fun and celebrate – sadly it is something that often gets missed!

[Jen Grebeldinger]

This is a question/comment for all:

What are peoples’ experiences with steering committees? Module 5 of the course recommended the use of steering committees as part of good project management. I haven’t had much experience working with steering committees and am curious to hear from others about their experiences. My specific question is: how much value do project steering committees add to the final deliverable?

[Jen Grebeldinger]

One of the projects that I’m working on has a steering committee, however, I’ve never had the need to work with them directly. I think that they are valuable. Sometimes they are just a rubber stamp, but just having them there provides a measure of accountability. Sometimes they have valuable input, and can make the higher level decisions that save those on the ground some extra work, or battles. They can also create more work, but hopefully for the best interests of the project/community

[Carly Johansson]

I find a Steering Committee helpful – as long as it does not have too many people (five max) and its terms of reference are clear. The consultant needs one point person to deal with, but can also embrace the diversity of ideas from the steering committee.

Ideally the committee would bring different backgrounds and perspectives, eg someone from council, a local business, a community group, a developer, a contractor involved in renewable energy…

[Carly Johansson]

The consultant we used followed a KISS system. Although he could have spent a lot of time (and therefore $$) on detailed analysis to get an exact measurement of current energy and GHGs, he used a ballpark system as ‘good enough’ and focused his time on helping us seek the most beneficial reductions.

Lots of community consultation and engagement also critical. We did ok but I think we could have done better.

[Jen Grebeldinger]

I’ve been working in the non-profit sector and working as a consultant has been a steep learning curve. I appreciate the experience here. I agree that documenting the scope of work is very useful. It’s easy to get off task and waste a lot of time. One wants to work efficiently, and produce something effective. Regular communication is useful, but it can depend on peoples workload.

[Jen Grebeldinger]

Well I can only concur about the importance of a strong project coordinator and supporting team, as well as regular check-in meetings. Perferably in person where possible. Clear goals and deliverables help with maintain focus but you do need to be innovative when necessary to get around unexpected issues as the project procgreeses.

[Jen Grebeldinger]

I like your comments and insight Theresa

I agree with many of your comments. The role of the project lead to know when to delegate where appropriate resonates with me. Working in a team environment and learning to understand and work with the strengths of your project colleagues lessens the burden on everyone and helps build buy-in with project members who likely will be critical in maintaining momentum and building on the project, once completed.

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