Cat Herding: The hardest (read: best) part is unseen

Intelligent, independent, unpredictable ... and so valuable!

Managing any program or project is, on the surface, all about timelines, milestones, stakeholders, plans, and budgets.  It's easy to look at the tangibles.  But what does a program manager (or indeed, anyone who leads any initiative) spend the vast majority of his or her time and energy on?  It's the cat herding: getting people onboard and keeping them onboard throughout the entire experience. 

It's Tough ... 

I mean this in the best possible way.  Why cat herding?  You can formulate a strategy to round up everyone needed for the project to succeed, but each person will have his or her own agenda and priorities - as should be.  What's tough is that you'll never know exactly what will become especially salient or present a roadblock, and when they might occur.  As far as I'm given to understand, this is not unlike the highly individualistic and unpredictable cat - and that's not a bad thing. 

Fostering a collaborative environment in any project is of paramount importance to me, because working with people to make something happen isn't about wrangling folks, getting what you want out of them, and then discarding them (or locking them up in a pen ... what does one do with cats after herding them, anyway?).  

These are people integral to the success of the initiative, and it's my job to present and remind them of the overall goal we're trying to reach.  Sure, there may be a million and one ways to get to that goal, so if I spend the time and effort getting to know everyone and what's important to each person, I can hopefully work with him or her in a way that allows their key wishes to be met as part of the main outcome.

... But Worth It

For better or for worse, all this work isn't readily quantifiable and come status check or performance review time, it doesn't show up as part of the metrics of accomplishment.  However, an astute manager will understand what it takes to get a project of many moving parts and people off the ground, much less to success.  

For me, whether this cat herding is ultimately recognized or not, I have the satisfaction of knowing that I led the project in the way I believe should be done: having done due diligence with everyone involved, taking the time to explain in a customized way when needed, to persuade and to simply show you care about each person's needs.  Whether they're all met or not, at least I'll have set expectations and there's understanding on both sides.  

It's all about cultivating strong, healthy relationships - if the project succeeds and the team falls apart, I'm not sure I would consider that success for the long term. So onward with cat herding!  If we're going to do something, let's do it right.