236 • Creative, Ecient, and Eective Project Management
CREATIVE ABILITIES
Most of the creative abilities for this process involve compiling, analyzing,
and interpreting data and information about a project. To do so, requires
being objective and independent to avoid skewing interpretation and
judgment. It also requires disciplined thinking so that the information
generated allows making the best possible decisions. It also requires
inspecting information to determine whether it is sucient enough to
make decisions and to allow the discovery of patterns hidden within the
data and information.
Some relevant creative abilities required for this process are shown in
Table12.2.
GROUNDWORK FOR CREATIVE ENVIRONMENT
During the monitoring and controlling process, project managers need to
eliminate barriers that impede data and information release and sharing.
ey need to provide stakeholders with easy-to-use tools and access to
important data and information, facilitate communication and interac-
tion to avoid groupthink, and eliminate any red tape and unnecessary
meetings that fail to further the interests of a project.
Some actions that project managers can take to lay the groundwork for
a creative environment are shown in Table12.3.
TABLE12.1 (Continued )
Monitoring and Controlling Process and Challenges and Constraints
Challenge and Constraint Example
Silos Not being able to bridge gaps among functional
areas (e.g., Finance, Marketing, Engineering, etc.)
on aproject
Specialization Not being able to translate the jargon from one
discipline into that of another
Stretching resources too thin Relying too much on a few resources assigned to
activities on the critical path
Success Taking a deserved but dangerous respite aer
amajor delivery that is soon followed by another,
thereby causing work to pile up
Creativity and the Monitoring and Controlling Process • 237
TABLE12.2
Monitoring and Controlling Process and Creative Abilities
Creative Ability Example
Applying cross-
domain thinking
Taking specic corrective action to improve schedule
performance while determining the overall impact on the project
Being analytical Reviewing a schedule to determine the cause of a slide on the
critical path
Being observant Watching the team to determine a more eective approach for
executing a change management plan
Being precise Determining the exact cause of a persistent technical problem
Being self-critical Being willing to look at your own performance and how it
impacts that of the overall project
Conceptualizing Keeping the vision, goals, and objectives in mind when
monitoring performance
Dening a problem Knowing exactly what the problem is with the cost management
process that produces inaccurate data
Embracing
ambiguity
Recognizing that progressing on an activity or an entire project
sometimes involves not having enough facts and data
Generalizing Coming up with high-level conclusions about the quality of
deliverables aer reviewing performance data
Looking from the
outside, in
Attempting not to lose your objectivity when trying to determine
the cause of a cost performance problem
Nonlinear thinking Taking a systemic view of a project’s schedule performance
Reasoning Attempting to come up with a rational answer for why team
members are circumventing the change management process
Seeing multiple
answers
Performing what-if analysis in a schedule tool to determine which
revisions to the schedule will increase the likelihood of meeting
akey milestone date
Shiing between
convergent and
divergent thinking
Reviewing an activity in the schedule and determining the impact
of progress made on the overall schedule
Shiing from
analysis to synthesis
mode of thinking
Adding activities to the work breakdown structure and then
assigning dependencies in the baseline schedule
Shiing from linear
to nonlinear
thinking
Reviewing the logic of the current schedule and ascertaining its
impact on the cost performance baseline
Shiing perspectives Taking a cost perspective and then a schedule perspective when
reviewing performance data
Suspending
judgment
Avoiding jumping to conclusions before all facts and data are
available concerning a quality issue
Synthesis Bringing cost and schedule data together to assess performance
against their baselines
(Continued)
238 • Creative, Ecient, and Eective Project Management
GROUNDWORK FOR INDIVIDUAL CREATIVITY
From an individual perspective, project managers need to lay the basis
for people to have the time and knowledge to provide data and to use
tools related to cost, schedule, and quality performance of their projects.
ey also should emphasize the necessity for independent and objective
analysis to avoid prejudicial judgments. Another challenge is avoiding
the tendency to lter information in such a way that satises emotional
needs.
TABLE12.3
Monitoring and Controlling Process and Groundwork for Creative Environment
Action Example
Align individual with project
goals and objectives
Making every feasible eort to align the interests of the
individual to that of the project
Allow time for issue
denition
Setting aside time for team members to dene a technical
problem
Build and maintain trust Encouraging people to share knowledge and experience
at team meetings
Counter groupthink Bringing consultants on board temporarily to review cost
and schedule performance and provide
recommendations for improvement
Emphasize coordination Providing opportunities for dierent functional areas or
specializations to work together to address quality issues
Relax rules, procedures, etc. Allowing for exceptions to processes when doing so will
allow for corrective actions to be more eective
Stress communications Providing meaningful, ongoing communications about
progress to key stakeholders
TABLE12.2 (Continued )
Monitoring and Controlling Process and Creative Abilities
Creative Ability Example
Uncovering patterns Reviewing data and information about performance to ascertain
the overall behavior of a project
Using linear
thinking
Reviewing the schedule in logical sequence to determine what is
causing key dates on the critical path to slide
Verbalizing Preparing narrative descriptions of a project’s cost and schedule
performance
Visualizing Preparing graphics about a project’s cost and schedule
Creativity and the Monitoring and Controlling Process • 239
Some actions that project managers can take to allow individuals to be
creative are outlined in Table12.4.
GROUNDWORK FOR TEAM CREATIVITY
Independence and objectivity can be quickly sacriced in an environment
where pressures like time, cost, and speedy delivery become extremely
important. If the circumstances get out of control, decisions may be based,
sometimes more oen than not, on erroneous assumptions, data, and infor-
mation. Certain stakeholders will face pressure to make quick decisions
that are not well thought out, either through customer or other stakeholder
pressure to meet within a specic cost or schedule target, thereby skewing
analysis and behavior. Project managers especially nd themselves in this
pressure cooker. ey are the only ones who usually have the opportunity
to interact with all stakeholders, thus exposing them to the pressure most
acutely. Project managers, therefore, must continually emphasize priorities,
oset social pressure, adjust processes accordingly, and do whatever is nec-
essary to ensure greater communication and collaboration.
Some actions that project managers can take to allow a team to be
creative are outlined in Table12.5.
TABLE12.4
Monitoring and Controlling Process and Groundwork for Individual Creativity
Action Example
Have a diverse background Bringing team members on board who have a wide
range of experience
Have self-discipline Guiding people to exercise restraint in their
prejudices when determining new estimates for
remaining activities in a schedule
Have the ability to be self-critical Encouraging people to question their own
assumptions when conducting replanning
Realize that sooner or later,
creativity must be implemented
Reminding team members that any idea for
corrective action requires action to make progress
See outside the box Extricating yourself, mentally or physically, from the
current environment if replanning is necessary to
preclude pride of authorship
Tolerate failure Providing support for individuals who try but fail to
succeed when trying something new on a project
240 • Creative, Ecient, and Eective Project Management
RELEVANT TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES
e tools and techniques of the monitoring and controlling process center
on maintaining an objective understanding about the status of a project.
e emphasis is on collecting, compiling, and interpreting facts, data, and
information to derive creative solutions enabling decisions and actions
that truly address a problem or issue, not the symptoms.
Some common creativity tools and techniques that project managers
can apply for this process are shown in Table12.6.
TRADITIONAL CREATIVITY LIFE CYCLE MODEL
Within the monitoring and controlling process, project managers
can apply the ve phases of the creativity life cycle model. Each phase
plays an instrumental role in clarifying and resolving an issue or
problem.
TABLE12.5
Monitoring and Controlling Process and Groundwork for Team Creativity
Action Example
Act as if on a mission Keeping the team focused on the vision, goals, and
objectives of a project when replanning
Allow for open discussion and
have a tolerance for ideas
Encouraging team members to identify the cause of
aschedule slide, and not settle for a quick x
Avoid noncontributory activities Isolating a team from group meetings that oer no
value to it
Be emotional and logical Looking for opportunities to improve performance
while simultaneously keeping everyone motivated to
succeed
Have a diverse membership Having people with dierent backgrounds share their
knowledge and experience at team meetings
Have facilitative and supportive
leadership
Keeping the team motivated to come up with creative
ideas to improve cost performance
Know the priorities Keeping the vision of the project constantly at the
forefront of the team
Seek balance among creating,
planning, and implementing
Reminding the team that a creative idea needs to
become reality, sooner or later
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