From A to Z

Let me just fan-boy over Amazon here for a minute. Jeff Bezos, the everything guy, so true that his logo for Amazon just says it all. Note how the arrow points for the letter A to the letter Z in the logo below. I'm not bringing up Amazon to talk about their logo, however. I'm bringing them up because they have MASTERED the art of project management. Jeff Bezos says they are going to build a "staff free" grocery store, they go out and do it! Jeff Bezos thinks he can reshape the health insurance market, lets give it a go! I was able to talk with some of the project managers for Amazon and learn from them how they execute at such a high level.

Nothing Ground Breaking Here.

I'm not going to sit here and tell you everything you think as right, is wrong, or that I have some sort of secret formulation that is superior to project management. Any great project manager knows that when an idea arises, it will change 100 times before it will ever move on to the planning stage. You need to ask if this project will add value, will it be feasible, do we have the talent or can get the talent to make it happen, and will the project be wasteful in the process? You will have many meetings and team brainstorming events before the project itself has a clear definition and can be thoroughly planned out.

When it comes to planning, figuring the scope, schedule, and cost of the project is your first step. Just like anything good in business, these are not final expectations as things change and evolve, including projects. When creating a schedule, be sure that the goals you are setting for your team are both SMART and CLEAR. Yes, those are acronyms!

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S-pecific (Setting goals to cover who, what, where, when, which and why)

M-easurable (Making sure that you know how to measure the progress to and success of a goal)

A-ttainable (Lay out how to achieve your most important goals)

R-ealistic (Ensure that everyone is willing and able to achieve your goals)

T-imely (Making sure that you can a timeline in which you can hit your goals)

C-olaborative (Check that your team is encouraged to work together)

L-imited (The scope of your goals should be limited enough to make them manageable)

E-motional (Your employees should be able to form an emotional connection to your goals by tapping into their passions)

A-ppreciable (Large tasks need to be broken down to make them more achievable)

R-efinable (Goals need to be flexible to adapt and be refined as new situations arise)

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Be sure you are utilizing your employee's strengths by assigning them tasks they will be able to thrive at. This holds more value beyond just the project at hand (Read my December 2018 Topic). During your kick-off meeting, don't let anyone leave the meeting without making sure they fully understand what they will need to do to complete the tasks assigned to them. Be sure that everyone is enthusiastic about the tasks at hand.

Look for Key Performance Indicators during your meetings with your team such as Project Objectives, Quality, Effort and Logging, Number of Errors. Project Objectives are the measure of if a project is staying on schedule and on budget, according to stakeholder objectives. Quality Deliverable means looking to see if tasks are being completed to the right level of quality. Effort and Logging means that your team is staying on the expected deadline and budget, and perhaps predicting the completion date. Your team should be actively logging their progress and taking pride in the process. Lastly, Project Performance is taking into account the number of errors your team is making and if it is effecting the budget or completion date. It is important to have all members or teams meeting weekly, but it is also important to hold discussions with each piece of the project as well to get an in-depth understanding of the progress being made. Encourage a swift but quality finish to the project.

As your project comes to a close, it is necessary that you close your evaluation and properly asses yourself as a manager. Self-assessment is a great tool in advancing your own career and developing. You may need to terminate any contractors you used for the project and return your regular staff to every day work. In a dream scenario, you just finished ahead of time and below budget while producing the highest quality outcome.

Details NOT Found in Textbooks.

There is love and war in the details of business. Bringing this back at my original points about Amazon, there are a few reasons why innovation is just another part of their day.

Amazon has lived, breathed, and even died over the concept of Always Pushing Limits. Back in 2005, Amazon Prime seemed like such a far-fetched idea. 2 day FREE DELIVERY?! Amazon made it a goal to have the most convenient delivery service available, went out, and executed. Now, every other e-commerce is either having to conform to the bar Amazon has set, or join them by selling on their platform. Amazon wins because they make it just that much more easy.

E-commerce is not as much sales as it is science.