Peanut butter lessons in project management

A good trainer can find a lesson in something as simple as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

I collaborated this week with Kelly Wirges, president of ProMax Training & Consulting on an API Tailored Programs seminar for middle managers of the Ottaway Media Group. Kelly presented the opening session Sunday night and Monday morning, teaching the managers about "The Dynamics of a High-Performance Team." The East Coast snowstorm over the weekend kept me from reaching Middletown, N.Y., in time to catch most of Kelly's session.

By the time I arrived Monday, Kelly had taught the managers important lessons about understanding their own personalities and the people on their teams, using the DISC Profile. By the time I arrived, she was teaching some lessons about leading the team.

This is where the sandwiches came in. Kelly divided the group into three teams, giving each a loaf of bread, a jar of peanut butter and some grape jelly. Pretty easy project, huh? Not exactly. Kelly also gave each group a set of instructions and seven minutes to complete the job.

One group received simple instructions: Make the perfect peanut butter sandwich.

Another was told to consult with their supervisor (Kelly), strategize and assign roles.

The third group received detailed instructions (30 steps!) for making a peanut butter sandwich.

The first group did exactly as instructed, making a beautiful sandwich. The group actually did more than that group usually does when Kelly leads this exercise. They decorated the table and plate for a nice presentation of the sandwich.

The second group made sandwiches of varying sizes, including one with a grape smiley face for the children. The strategy session and delegation of roles clearly unlocked the group's creativity and brought the most out of the assignment.

The third group made a lackluster sandwich, bogged down by the meticulous directions. "We were micromanaged to the max!" complained one of the managers.

This is the fifth time in the past three years that I've followed Kelly in a leadership development seminar. I enjoy working with her because our lessons complement each other. My session, which followed hers, was about project management. What better set-up for project management than a simple illustration that the leader needs to provide enough direction to bring out the team's abilities and creativity?

In developing my plans for the project-management session, I consulted with David Witke, former managing editor and operations director of the Des Moines Register. I haven't worked for Dave in more than 20 years. But I learned more from him than from any manager and I still consult with him when I'm developing leadership seminars. I always admired Dave's leadership when we worked together on projects, so I wanted to steal his ideas for my session and my handout.

Dave's most important advice underscored the lesson of Kelly's exercise: Yeah, you're managing a project, but you're really managing people.

Having mastered peanut butter and jelly, these people were ready for bigger projects. I led a couple hours of discussion that covered some of the principles of project management: planning, execution, trouble-shooting and so on. But the real learning was to come in the work these managers would do in teams. I had assigned each manager in advance of the seminar to come with an idea for a project she could lead for her home newspaper.

The managers came from around the country, from California to Cape Cod. The project ideas represented as many interests as the jobs of the managers: production, mailroom, circulation, advertising, newsroom, business office, publisher's office, human resources. We assigned managers with similar jobs to teams - three classified managers together, three circulation managers together, three editors together and so on.

Each team was supposed to select one manager's project, then develop a plan to carry out the project and prepare to pitch the project to the group Tuesday morning, as though we were the publisher whose approval would be needed.

By Tuesday morning, we heard seven detailed project plans:
• A partnership with a mall.
• A weekly page featuring the youth sports that normally don't receive heavy coverage.
• A "Show Me the Money" circulation promotion.
• A joint promotion rewarding "easy-pay" subscribers with a free private-party classified ad.
• An internship program for high school students.
• A plan for moving inserts and other printed materials from one plant to another during the conversion to a new press.
• A plan to launch a new co-op division in the advertising department.

The detail and enthusiasm of the presentations left me hopeful that their papers will soon see the results. Some had detailed schedules and tentative budgets. They identified the parties with a stake in the project and told us how they would involve them and how they would communicate.

The group of editors showed a prototype of the youth sports page, pasted together on a flip chart page, and plan internet tie-ins, including some that could generate revenue. A group of production managers visited the nearby plant of Ottaway's Times Herald-Record in Middletown Monday evening, doing some research for their project, designed for Seacoast Media in New Hampshire.

The co-op plan, dubbed "Money for Nothin'," included detailed research on the money local retailers could use for co-op ads and an ambitious plan to launch by April 1. This plan included one of the most important steps in project planning: anticipating possible problems and planning a response.

We wrapped up Tuesday afternoon with a session challenging the managers to "become the best boss their staff ever had." I told a story about my best boss ever (Dave Witke) and the managers told stories about bosses who had inspired them, taught them and fueled their enthusiasm. On a couple of flip charts, we listed attributes and actions of our best bosses.

My scrawlings on the flip charts described the leadership of a boss any of us would like to work for: show confidence, validate, empower, point the way, praise, support, set priorities, define the job, recognize and address strengths and weaknesses, get out of the way, trust, share knowledge, understand, show you how, lead by example, notice, get your attention, give experience, win respect not fear, personal investment, encourage, respect personal needs, praise people down the line in addition to direct reports.

I can't guarantee that each of these managers will have that sort of relationship with each of their staff members. It's a tall order and I know I didn't achieve it with everyone who worked for me. But I'm quite sure that we set a lofty goal for them to pursue. I think some peanut butter lessons and more lessons they will learn in the projects they will lead in the coming weeks will help them become the kind of boss that former staff members will call up 20 years later, still seeking advice and leadership.

If you would like to plan an API Tailored Programs seminar like this - or one addressing the unique needs of your organization - let me know. After watching the peanut butter project, I think I'm ready to tackle your project.