August 9, 2004
(Computerworld)
In my column last month , I defined systems builder as a person who is central to the success of any systems development project. This person
possesses skills in two main areas: designing systems and leading projects to build systems. I then looked at the five basic skills needed for designing systems. This month, I'll discuss the six practices that are the basis for success in leading projects.
In my years of experience in developing systems and watching others do so, I have found these skills to be the essence of project leadership. The more accomplished the systems builder is in these areas, the higher the success rate.
1. Be an effective communicator and negotiator. The systems builder as designer collaborates with others to create a compelling system vision. The systems builder as leader communicates this vision in a way that attracts people and motivates them to act. This means clearly describing a system's features and benefits to a business and a technical audience and showing how development will progress from vision to reality. Systems builders may not all be great public speakers or have outgoing personalities, but they find ways to use the talents they do have to get the message across and win support.
2. Set high standards and great expectations. People want to participate in projects that they believe will improve their skills and bring them recognition and rewards. So the systems builder sets high standards for performance and helps people to attain them. The systems builder also paints a picture that highlights all the great things the project will bring about. As Daniel Burnham, the great Chicago architect, said, "Make no small plans. They have no magic to stir men's blood."
3. Delegate, delegate, delegate. All well-defined projects have a set of objectives or milestones that must be reached in order to finish the project. The systems builder delegates the accomplishment of these objectives to the qualified people who have been attracted to the project. (If no qualified people have been attracted, then stop the project.) Along with delegating responsibility to achieve objectives, the systems builder also works to provide people with the resources they need to do their jobs. In this respect, the systems builder becomes the servant of the people working on the project.
4. Be available. Delegating work does not mean delegating ultimate responsibility for the project. Systems builders stay actively involved. They hold regular, weekly project meetings that are a forum for honest discussions about issues, and they have an open-minded approach to resolving the problems that arise. Systems builders learn that in most cases their people already have or can quickly come up with good answers to problems if they are able to discuss the situation and get the systems builder's thoughts to help them in their own thinking.
5. Be decisive. Key leadership decisions often involve the allocation of resources to achieve project objectives. When a development team runs into an obstacle that demands the reallocation of resources or the redefinition of an objective, the systems builder must get directly involved. The systems builder includes the appropriate people, does the best analysis within the time available, makes decisions and moves on. If the systems builder isn't willing to make the tough decisions when necessary, then no one else will either, and the project will lose momentum and start to drift.
6. Act with energy and focus. As a project progresses, constant effort is required to sell the project and its benefits. The systems builder constantly encourages, cajoles and assists people to keep up the pace of work needed to finish on time and on budget. Leaders lead by example. They lead from the front. The systems builder's presence and demeanor sets the tone for the whole project and is a large part of what keeps people motivated and focused on the work that needs to be done.
Michael H. Hugos is CIO at Network Services Co., a distribution cooperative in Mount Prospect, Ill., that sells food-service and janitorial supplies. He is the author of Essentials of Supply Chain Management (John Wiley & Sons Inc., 2003). He can be reached at mhugos@nsconline.com.