The Project Book

CHAPTER 69 GET OFF TO A FLYER

Having established that culture is the most important element of your project, that’s where you must always start. Resist the temptation to blunder straight into implementation without planning and take stock of what you have to do.

The start is the most important part of any race. Usain Bolt, the Jamaican 100-metre sprinter and multiple gold medal winner, was consistently slow out of the blocks, which meant he had to work twice as hard to catch up. This is a great metaphor for starting a project off in the right way. If you don’t start with understanding how you’ll work together as a team, you’ll be constantly playing catch-up.

As the sponsor, think carefully about the people you need to be involved in the unique culture you’re creating. Think about the detractors, passives and promoters, and invite them all to two days of culture setting. Or, as Simon Dowling recommends in his excellent book Work with Me, ‘Throw a Starty Party!’

Two days of establishing a vision, agreeing behaviours and talking about how you’ll work together (collaboration). Two days of discussing what works well within your current organisation, and what lessons you’ve learned from other projects and elements of your culture.

How will you gather information, talk and communicate with each other, and set your workplace up for success? Are you co-located (always the best option) or are you geographically distributed? How are you going to run your meetings — stand-up, sit-down or ...