Copyright © 2015 SolutionsIQ Inc. All rights reserved th Ave NE, Suite 200 Redmond, WA solutionsiq.com Su The Wizard Tactics for dealing with people, skills, and retention constraints Version

Meet Su Su's insights, knowledge, and experience makes Su one of those folks that everyone Has to Have on their project

Here is Su's Planned Project Load Su is a critical resource needed on 5 projects Allocation 20% Every project gets Su for 20% of the entire project anytime they need it, including the last week. And we know what that means... Project A B C D E

Su has been to this Rodeo Before Su’s Hours Project A B C D E Write CV Write CV New Job New Job Project(s) Timeline And Here’s Su’s Plan!

Is this the Solution?

An experiment to see how bad this is Suppose Each PM could only plan on Su’s time going forward, simply use it or lose it Allocation 20% Day Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday To get Su for a week on Proj A, the PM would need to trade four Mondays to the other projects. How many PM’s would attend all the meetings that would make this work? Project A B C D E

Rank your Portfolio of Projects. Focus Su on most critical in the stack until they are DONE. If this is not feasible at this time you can go back or try another option AllocationProject A B C D E Rank % One Good Option

Wizard’s have Apprentices All Wizardly work is made up of ‘swell’ enjoyable work and the stuff to be done to get to the ‘swell’ work – A.K.A. ‘swill’ work. Most teams have someone who wants to be a wizard. Often, the wizard’s swill work is the apprentice’s swell work. Apprentice Pradeep Colin Maya Zoe Betty Anne Help to Su 10% 12% 8% 11% 9% Help To Su reflects the increase in Su’s productivity Project A B C D E Rank

Apprentices are Force Multipliers Su gets 50% more time for ‘swell’ work Apprentice Pradeep Colin Maya Zoe Betty Anne Help to Su 10% 12% 8% 11% 9% Help to Project 5% 6% 4% 6% 5% The Portfolio gets 26% more productive. The Apprentice is Su’s link to the project, reducing disruptions when Su visits and timely updates on the project is Track the impact of Apprentice work on both Su and the Project. The numbers get verifiably better Project A B C D E

Apprentices reduce risk When Su creates a cadre of team members with basic wizard skills; Apprentices grow into journeymen wizards, handling the bulk of the wizardly project work. Su has the time to get better and pass more on. One or two journeymen may become wizards. This increases the organization’s skill bank Su tends not to update the CV on a regular basis. Apprentice Pradeep Colin Maya Zoe Betty Anne Help to Su 10% 12% 8% 11% 9% Help to Project 5% 6% 4% 6% 5% Project A B C D E

This may work

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