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MTI Newsletter

Current projects of
MACHWÜRTH TEAM INTERNATIONAL
Organisational and Personnel Development

Successful projects by systemic project


coaching Christine Goebel-Born
Consultant

A holistic consulting approach to improve the effective- MACHWÜRTH TEAM


ness of project work INTERNATIONAL

There are a series of surveys


Target-oriented interven- which show that projects usually
tions… do not fail because of their tech- What is the current situation
nical complexity or the content of the companies?
…help eliminate the weak- but because of the soft factors
nesses of the collaboration, im- such as different expectations,
prove the management skills of lack of communication and In order to act faster and more
the project leader and optimize commitment or leadership skills flexible towards challenges of
the processes of the project of the project manager. Espe- the market, more and more top-
management. The extensive cially during the initial phase the ics/problems are worked on in
analysis of the current situation factors which seem to be un- project teams. An important fac-
as well as the discussion with complicated at first glance have tor of success for a company is
the key stakeholders are crucial to be steered by the project to set up the projects with clear
in order to define and implement coach in order to secure the objectives and priorities. The
the individually suitable meas- successful outcome of the pro- project managers play a crucial
ures sustainably. ject. The intensive involvement role and face high expectations.
of the stakeholders can for in- It is expected that they ‘catch’
Christine Goebel-Born, systemic stance be initiated by the project the trends thanks to professional
coach and project manager pro- coach in order to define the pro- and emotional competencies
fessional® ject objectives and to avoid any and create future-oriented solu-
misunderstandings regarding tions in order to secure the mid
9:30 pm. The project manager is the project scope. and long-term existence of the
still in the office. Tomorrow he company. Excellent leadership
will have to explain a very im- Another factor causing failure in skills as well as technical, or-
portant milestone but the sig- projects is the lack of structures ganizational and economical
nature of the marketing man- in project management. Only a knowledge are required. In
ager and controlling is still miss- few companies are structured as complex projects, the project
ing. If the milestone cannot be a pure project organization. That manager becomes the ‘project
reached tomorrow the closing is the reason why the necessary entrepreneur’ with high respon-
date of the project will have to roles and committees for a suc- sibilities.
be postponed. What happened? cessful project management are
not given yet. A professional A lot of companies have realized
The marketing manager refused project coach can help shorten that the flexibility and pace can
to sign off because his em- the change process and guar- be improved by establishing pro-
ployee who is part of the project antees sustainability. In order to ject teams compared to the ‘old
team could not name the goals face the weaknesses in a pro- fashioned’ way of working via
of the project when he asked for ject, project coaching has a two- the hierarchy levels. What they
it. The signature of the control- fold role: Consulting and fa- define as ‘projects’ are often un-
ling department is missing be- cilitation. The project coach of- structured working groups or
cause the responsible controller fers the possibility to use his routine tasks. It is not clear
is on holidays and his deputy is technical knowledge when working on a task can be
not willing to sign ‘in a rush’. (=consulting) and to develop identified as a project. There is
new approaches (=facilitation no project management manual,
services). no communication structure, no

MACHWÜRTH TEAM INTERNATIONAL • Dohrmanns Horst 19 • D-27374 Visselhövede


Phone: +49 (0) 42 62 / 93 12 - 0 • Fax: +49 (0) 42 62 / 38 12
Email: info@mwteam.com • Internet: www.mticonsultancy.com
MTI Newsletter
Current projects of
MACHWÜRTH TEAM INTERNATIONAL
Organisational and Personnel Development

identified decision makers and But it is not common to use Systemic constructivist project
no defined responsibilities. coaching for project managers coaching is a consulting and fa-
There are projects but no struc- as they would need all these cilitation-process which im-
tures. The roles are not defined skills the more intensified due to proves the perception and per-
and the project managers do not their limited power. sonal behavior pattern of the
have any or not enough leader- project leader, the project team
ship experience. Double work- Especially the leaders of inter- and also the superior steering
load, information deficits, un- disciplinary teams require lead- board/committee. The basis of
clear objectives, unclear ex- ership qualities such as leader- the consultancy is a resource-
pectations and excessive time ship competency, social, me- oriented idea of man and no
and budget requirements are thodical and business compe- deficit-oriented approach (con-
the results. tence. structivism).

Consistent project management The project organization and


The benefit of project coach- structure within a company cre- project teams are considered as
ing ates transparency and improves social systems and the envi-
the decision making process. A ronment is always considered
super ordinate project coordina- as well. The methods are cho-
Project coaching is an approach tion secures an optimized and sen carefully based on the indi-
that identifies the underlying economically meaningful alloca- vidual characteristics of the tar-
problem areas. tion of resources. A coordinated geted system and on hypothe-
It often happens that the project project communication forms the sis, only structured interventions
managers and team members basis of motivation and com- and reflexions are used. The
are sent for project management mitment. The launch of a project DIFFERENCES of the percep-
trainings but the basic condi- management structure and the tion, meaning or possible con-
tions for a professional project project culture does not work by sequences for the targeted sys-
management are lacking. An- direction only. A change man- tem are offered by means of
other example; the best product agement process is required. questions, interpretations or ar-
developer was appointed as guments.
project manager of a new pro- An important quality criterion for
ject which will fail due to the lack project coaching is the sustain- The project coach transfers his
of leadership skills of the former ability of the results. The goal of knowledge in terms of profes-
developer. project coaching is only sional project management to
achieved when future projects of the coachee; but he is only re-
Project coaching secures the the clients deliver good results sponsible for the consulting and
usage of measures targeting at the right time and within the facilitation-process not for the
only the individual requirements allocated budget. results regarding the content. It
and problems of a company by is always the decision of the
conducting an intensive situation coachee!
analysis. Thereby we prevent What is systemic construc- A commitment with long-term
the unnecessary waste of finan- tivist project coaching? success can only be achieved
cial means. by developing new approaches
in collaboration. This is ex-
Due to the fact that the basic If projects do not rollout as tremely important if we look at
problems are often a combina- planned, it is often difficult for the implementation of a new
tion of missing structures and the involved parties to open up project management structure,
soft factors, project coaching their mind towards new ideas i.e. new roles, processes, tools,
has to address hard and soft and approaches and develop al- committees and rules of com-
factors by a structured change ternative solutions. A systemic munication. Sustainability in im-
process. constructivist coaching ap- plementing successful projects
proach motivates to abandon can only be achieved by devel-
Coaching is mostly used for the current methodologies and to oping the competencies of the
middle and upper management find new options. The external project manager and the team.
in order to enhance their leader- support helps to improve the Enhancing the self-reflection
ship, conflict resolution, social competencies of the project helps professionalize the lesson
and communication skills, etc. teams and to develop and im- learned loop.
plement new structures.

MACHWÜRTH TEAM INTERNATIONAL • Dohrmanns Horst 19 • D-27374 Visselhövede


Phone: +49 (0) 42 62 / 93 12 - 0 • Fax: +49 (0) 42 62 / 38 12
Email: info@mwteam.com • Internet: www.mticonsultancy.com
MTI Newsletter
Current projects of
MACHWÜRTH TEAM INTERNATIONAL
Organisational and Personnel Development

Coaching encourages the team


to create transparency about
The project as a social system conflict of goals and ask for clar- Choice of technique of sys-
ity if the defined objectives are temic project coaching
not clear enough (Scope Man-
Projects are considered as so- agement).
cial systems in the approach of An open handling of conflicts as The choice of technique de-
systemic constructivist consult- well as not to suppress the risks pends on the competence level
ing. A project system consists of but planning them actively from of the customer in terms of pro-
a certain number of elements the beginning are crucial for a ject management. It could be
which are related to each other successful project (Risk Man- professional consulting or train-
and are characterized by circu- agement). ing as well as techniques and
lar dependency. principles of change manage-
The four pillars of a project sys- The conduction of training ses- ment or organizational devel-
tem are the project objectives, sions embedded in the coaching opment.
the project culture, the required process can help to improve the
skills and the structure. What if project management skills such Techniques of organisational
such project systems ‘fall ill’, if as methods and tools. It is also development (OD):
they face objections or if the ex- important to enhance the soft ƒ Tools for diagnosis and
change of information does not skills such as communication or analysis (situation analysis)
work or if the whole system conflict resolution. ƒ Individual or group inter-
seems to collapse? views
That is the point when project A coaching session around the ƒ Analysis of documents
coaching helps by starting to topic of ‘Balanced Score Cards’ ƒ Observation of meetings
work on one or more of the four could be used to align the pro- ƒ Questionnaires
pillars: ject objectives with the strategy
of the company. ƒ Involvement of the stake-
Should a project structure such holders and top manage-
ment
ƒ Conduction of Kick-off
Workshop
ƒ Well documented and
facilitated decision mak-
ing processes

ƒ Cultural work
ƒ Team development in-
struments
ƒ Leadership develop-
ment
ƒ Interpersonal communi-
cation
ƒ Conflict resolution

ƒ Planning of communication
ƒ Transparency of deci-
sions
The project culture can be as processes, roles and tools be ƒ Equality of information
changed in the long term by dif- implemented in the targeted
ferent coaching sessions which system the professional con- ƒ Reflexion of results
enhance the awareness to in- sultancy and a well organized ƒ Reflecting Team
volve all the stakeholders early change management process is
and to inform them on a regular needed for a successful result. ƒ Sustainability
basis (Stakeholder Management ƒ Using pilots
and Communication Manage- ƒ Coaching as transfer
ment). tool

MACHWÜRTH TEAM INTERNATIONAL • Dohrmanns Horst 19 • D-27374 Visselhövede


Phone: +49 (0) 42 62 / 93 12 - 0 • Fax: +49 (0) 42 62 / 38 12
Email: info@mwteam.com • Internet: www.mticonsultancy.com
MTI Newsletter
Current projects of
MACHWÜRTH TEAM INTERNATIONAL
Organisational and Personnel Development

ƒ Setting of clear objec- ‘What could be done in order to work out a report about the cur-
tives deteriorate the outcome of the rent situation and a SWOT
ƒ Evaluation project?’ This questioning tech- analysis. This could be done by
nique helps to show the phone interviews or a workshop.
Training instruments: coachee which of his own activi- The advantage of a workshop is
ƒ Interactive methods which ties cause problems within a that the commitment is usually
enhance transfer to prac- project. higher and the team members
tice such as experiential start to bond in an early stage of
learning and group work If the systemic coach wants to the project. The next steps con-
(real case studies) find out the perfect situation de- sist of defining the objectives of
ƒ Project management skills sired by the involved parties, he project coaching based on the
and soft skills asks the ‘wonder question’ (by description of the desired out-
Steve de Shazer). This method come / perfect situation by the
Project Management Methods is especially useful to move the key stakeholders. The compari-
(by PMI® Standard): project team from a problem ori- son with the current situation
ƒ Definition of project objec- ented to a solution oriented way shows the weaknesses for
tives of thinking what helps to achieve which measures have to be de-
ƒ Definition of project struc- the turn-around in difficult pro- fined accordingly. The definition
ture (roles, organization, jects. The coach asks them how of the objectives and measures
processes, milestones, re- the perfect situation can be has to be done by a personal
porting) achieved and supports them in conversation in order to get clar-
ƒ Implementation of project working out the necessary steps ity and to avoid different ex-
management tools for the implementation. pectations. Based on the de-
ƒ Implementation of reporting fined measures a rough esti-
structures mate of the timeline, the quality
criteria and the budget can be
made. A project coaching proc-
ess usually takes 1 month to 12
months.
The implementation of the de-
fined measures starts after set-
tling the contract. The project
coach resp. coaches visit the
customer on a regular basis to
conduct coaching conversa-
tions, facilitate meetings, con-
duct trainings, create reporting
structures, implement tools, etc.

Regular review meetings with


the contracting body (sponsors)
of the project coaching are
scheduled in the conduction
phase in order to discuss the
proceeding (objectives) and as-
sess the quality of the results.
The review meetings are always
part of the coaching process
The project coaching process and once the measures have
Questioning techniques of been implemented the evalua-
systemic coaching which are tion and transfer process starts.
useful for project coaching The project coaching process In order to do the transfer indi-
begins with the diagnosis of the vidual agreements are defined.
Project coaching often uses current situation. The involved The targeted organization is
‘paradox questions’ which are parties (project manager, pro- asked now to monitor these
dealing with exactly the opposite gram manager, personal devel- agreements.
of what should be achieved. opment, division leaders, etc.)

MACHWÜRTH TEAM INTERNATIONAL • Dohrmanns Horst 19 • D-27374 Visselhövede


Phone: +49 (0) 42 62 / 93 12 - 0 • Fax: +49 (0) 42 62 / 38 12
Email: info@mwteam.com • Internet: www.mticonsultancy.com
MTI Newsletter
Current projects of
MACHWÜRTH TEAM INTERNATIONAL
Organisational and Personnel Development

The evaluation of the activities quirements of the product and the important meeting. The
of the last weeks/months are re- its prioritization. In order to han- coach is not present at the
flected by the following ques- dle the conflict of goals that will presentation itself. The project
tions: “What went well / bad? arise in the workshop, the pro- manager is responsible for the
What could be improved?” ject manager requires excellent management presentation which
Mutual feedback in the project conflict handling and facilitation does not form part of the coach-
coaching is an important factor. skills. ing process.
Not only the coachee receives After the management has
feedback but also the project Once the product requirements made a decision the coach and
coach from the coachee and the are defined the management all the involved parties meet
contracting body. has to approve or deny the go- each other for a final feedback
ahead of the product develop- session.
ment project. Once the project coaching proc-
Sample of intervention design The project coach is required to ess is completed the company
for a product development help structure the documenta- has gone through a project ini-
project tion such as project proposal or tiation process that can be
project charter. It is recom- adapted for all future projects.
mended to involve all the stake-
Picture number 3 shows an ex- holder for a review after creating
ample of an intervention design a useful documentation in order Examples for project coach-
for the launch of a product de- to get their feedback about the ing
velopment project. ‘official document’. The evalua- ƒ Work out objectives of a
tion process is conducted in a project and define them
clearly
ƒ Stakeholder-Management
ƒ Show the complexity: plan-
ning of project structure
and timing, planning and
controlling of budget and
resources
ƒ Handling of project risks
ƒ Planning of project commu-
nication and reporting
ƒ Project manager as a
leader: how can I lead
without disciplinal leader-
ship responsibility?
ƒ Handling objections and
emotions, e.g. how to con-
vince the managers of my
team members?
ƒ How to solve conflicts of
goals between the line and
The first step puts emphasis on workshop which enhances also the project?
the involvement of the stake- the team spirit and the commit-
holders in the project. The pro- ment.
ject manager is informed in a
coaching session about the im- Another coaching session is
portance of this involvement and usually required to prepare the
the required steps are defined. project manager for the meeting Conclusion
A crucial element for getting the with the management which has
commitment of the stakeholders to decide whether the project The quality of a systemic project
is a workshop to define the re- should be implemented. The coaching depends on whether
quirements of the products. The meeting with the coach consists the coach finds the right balance
workshop is facilitated by the of content related aspects of the of consulting and process-fa-
project coach in order to guar- project proposal, the proceeding cilitation. He/She needs to have
antee a smooth flow. The output and the format and graphic a neutral view and must not get
of the workshop is a list of re- presentation of the materials for

MACHWÜRTH TEAM INTERNATIONAL • Dohrmanns Horst 19 • D-27374 Visselhövede


Phone: +49 (0) 42 62 / 93 12 - 0 • Fax: +49 (0) 42 62 / 38 12
Email: info@mwteam.com • Internet: www.mticonsultancy.com
MTI Newsletter
Current projects of
MACHWÜRTH TEAM INTERNATIONAL
Organisational and Personnel Development

involved in the content of the


project or cannot take over the
responsibility in terms of con-
tent. He has to respect all
stakeholders of the project and
has to find a way to motivate
them to be open for new ideas
and methodologies. The qualita-
tive and quantitative knowledge
of the coach is accessible by the
client at any time.

Sources/Literature

Hiller, Majer, Minar-Hödel, Zah-


radnik: Projektcoaching bringt
mich einfach weiter!, Goldegg
Verlag, Wien 2007

S. Radatz: Beratung ohne Rat-


schlag, Verlag Systemisches
Management, Wien 2003

About the author

Christine Goebel-Born is very


experienced in leading A-pro-
jects in the semiconductor in-
dustry for more than 10 years.
She is a certified project man-
ager and educated in systemic
coaching. She has been working
as consultant and coach for ef-
fective project management
since 2004.

MTI

MACHWÜRTH TEAM INTERNATIONAL • Dohrmanns Horst 19 • D-27374 Visselhövede


Phone: +49 (0) 42 62 / 93 12 - 0 • Fax: +49 (0) 42 62 / 38 12
Email: info@mwteam.com • Internet: www.mticonsultancy.com

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