PM: Managing External Resources – Part 2

In the prior article, we established the fact that we (the PM) own and must effectively coordinate ALL project-related activities performed by external resources. In order to do so, we’ll need to incorporate these external resources into our project team.

First, let’s cover 2 common misconceptions (excuses) I often hear with regards to this:

• We can’t have them (members of 3rd-party organizations) involved in our core team meetings as we might share confidential information. If you haven’t done so already, have them sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) which is a step typically taken well before a contractual agreement is even established for the work they’ll perform.
• I don’t want any of our dirty laundry aired in front of 3rd-party resources. First, they are under NDA (per the above). Second, we must realize that any dirty laundry aired is no more special than that of their own firm or other customers they are working with.

So, let’s drop the excuses and bring our external resources FULLY into our project team. The reason: if we keep them at arm’s length distance, they will NOT be in synch with the rest us. If you recall, from the prior article, common challenges experienced when leveraging 3rd-party resources include:

• They are often NOT aware of the true scope of impact their work will have on the business, nor do they know “who” specifically is or could be impacted. As a result, they are not in a position to fully quantify and/or communicate business impact…
• They’ll often perform the work “precisely” as specified and agreed upon. However, they may not be aware of the related work we are doing in advance, during or after their work is complete.
• They are often unable to assess the impact they’ve had on our company once their work has been completed. Sure, from their perspective, the system or solution seems to be up and operational, but is it 100% functional for ALL stakeholders and defined use cases?

Realize that Project Management is a multi-faceted planning, coordination and communication effort involving all members of the team regardless of their place in or outside of our firm. So, to bring them fully into the project fold, we must:

• Establish and share key points of contact at each firm, including:
  • The primary point of contact at the 3rd-party, their backup (in the event the primary is unavailable) and their upper management (for when we need to escalate issues).
  • The primary point of contact at our firm. It is often the PM but may instead be a key stakeholder or subject matter expert who is best suited to direct the particular 3rd-party’s efforts (as part of the overall project team) as well as their backup.
  • 24×7 contact information for ALL of the above to ensure each is reachable to respond to critical issues that WILL come up at the most unexpected of times. And, place this information on the team roster / contact list which is shared with the entire team!
• Establish clear roles and responsibilities such as:
  • We (the PM) are responsible for coordinating the timing, communications and any backup plans with regards to ALL work performed…
  • The primary point of contact at the 3rd-party is responsible for coordinating ALL activities of the 3rd-party on our behalf.
  • The 3rd-party performs absolutely NO work on our behalf without prior approval.
  • When work is performed by the 3rd-party, our firm’s primary point of contact is responsible for proofing the work in advance, monitoring its progress while underway and validating / confirming the work was performed and completed as expected.
  • The primary point of contact at our firm is responsible for ALL project-related communications within our firm.
• Include 3rd-party resources in our core team, other working meetings and detail walkthroughs of the project plan.
• Provide 3rd-party resources access to appropriate section(s) of our project’s shared document folder.

All of the above are pragmatic, tactical steps we can take to fully incorporate external resources into our project team. In addition, you are encouraged to review the following articles which have strategies which can be applied here, including:

• Leading Projects with Multiple Project Leaders
• Presenting a Unified PM Front

In a nutshell, bringing our 3rd-party resources FULLY into our team member fold will enable them to best serve and support us on our project while drastically reducing to eliminating unfortunate outcomes…

In closing, if you are looking to improve PM effectiveness in yourself, or organization, feel free to reach out so that we can discuss how I can help.

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