Re: Giving Feedback on Project Management

[Robin McCloud <RMcCloud -at- TFMG -dot- COM>]

I worked for large companies where we held departmental and company
debriefings after a project. They usually included an agenda item entitled
"Lessons Learned." This was the time when anyone on the project could
document mistakes in the process and give solutions to mitigate those
mistakes in the future. We had an open door policy, which allowed employees
to offer innovative ideas, and the chance to criticize the process while
doing so. These were true learning organizations, where the finger wasn't
pointed at one person and how that person could change, but at the whole
process and how it could be changed. Managers were supported by being sent
to classes to alleviate their lack of training and to prevent mistakes made
on their part. Additionally, employees were trained to support their
managers and behave in a manner that benefited the team, not the individual.

Those were large companies that advocated planning from the get-go. From my
own experience, I find smaller companies are usually crisis-based, mainly
because they are started by entrepreneurs - creative, imaginative,
impulsive, and spontaneous ... not planners. Reacting to client's needs or
to their own creativity, they start new projects with a one-day deadline.
They like to create crises because they thrive on chaos. This type of
behavior mutilates resources (time, personnel, money, training, etc.), and
hinders the use of successful project management - very frustrating to a
some project managers who work in this type of environment. Hence, there
could be more to your manager's situation than you perceive. Poor judgment
and decision-making could be coming from other sources; suggesting that he
has poor talents could be capricious criticism on your part. He may be a
symptom of a bigger issue - the trickle-down effect we all know and love
:-). Look at your company and what kind of attitude it advocates. Is it a
crisis-based company or a process-oriented one?

I think this question also leads us back to the thread about "real" managers
vs working managers. Working managers are usually the only kind of managers
smaller companies can afford. They have less time to manage employees and
projects, and spend a great deal of hands-on time working on those projects,
or cleaning up the messes others make during "the crisis." Often, out of
necessity, they approach their work reactively, based on the (usually)
last-minute input they receive from other departments. It's a vicious cycle
that needs to be broken at all levels of the organization.

Back to your dilemma. Oftentimes, employees think they know more than their
managers about how to run projects. Teenagers are the same way with their
parents. :-) In some circumstances, employees do know a better way, because
they aren't caught up in the office politics occurring behind closed doors.
They are on the front lines doing the grunt work. It's nice to work in an
environment that allows suggestions from employees because of their
expertise.

Taking a passive approach, however, could backfire and come across as
passive-aggressive. The indirect method you are considering (approaching
upper management with your ideas, at the expense of your boss) causes me to
question your motives. Directing negative attention to your manager, even in
what you perceive to be a tactful manner, could target you as a person who
doesn't respect the chain of command, someone who criticizes others without
approaching them first, or simply as one who isn't a team player. Your
actions may be seen as negative by not only your immediate supervisor, but
possibly upper management and your peers.

I advise you to be a team player and talk to your manager about your
concerns instead of criticizing him behind his back. Rather than judging
what you perceive to be a lack of skills and broadcasting them to his
superiors, first try supporting him, trusting him, and working with him, not
against him. Support him by working smarter and volunteering for technical
writing tasks so he gains more time to deal with project management - then
both of you will learn new skills along the way. With your help, he will
gain more time to manage projects, and you'll gain more experience working
on those projects. You may see positive results. You may receive more
responsibility in the long run, and a more challenging position which, I
believe, is your primary intention. :-) What path you choose to obtain that
position depends upon your moral fiber, character, and the attitude you take
to work with you each day.

My $2 -

Robin Mc2 (McCloud McDonald)
Sr. Technical Communicator
Information Development Department
The FAST Management Group, Inc.
Redmond WA
 <http://www.tfmg.com> www.tfmg.com