Here’s the situation. I work for a small certification board. Their new executive director of 2 years recently asked me what my ValueAdd was. After I explained that over the last 8+ years, I have successfully managed a pipeline of ~$.75M each year. Annually my team has implemented 12+ projects and supplied maintenance and on-call support. Of the 12 or so project, maybe 1 or 2 have missed hitting all 3 of the triple constraints. Of the 1 or 2 that were late, over-budget or missed the mark on quality, the client was actively engaged through the entire project and knew well in advance of end result. At the end of the conversation all he said was, “you come to us at a fairly high hourly rate and I want to know what your ValueAdd is”.
I obviously need help rephrasing my response. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I obviously need help rephrasing my response. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Geoff Warnock • If you feel you answered correctly and validated your existence and the director rephrased the question using the same term ("ValueAdd"), I'd ask them for their definition of the term. With financial terminology, there is a lot of confusion. For example, people will toss the 'Return On Investment' term around for a project when ROI is primarily a financial investment term. "ROI" sounds better than "Cost/Benefit Ratio" so people misuse the term. There's also the probability that they think you're being paid too much despite your successes. It's hard to go back to successful projects and extrapolate to 'what if I didn't do a good job?' and determine cost savings and balance that against your hourly rate. If that's the case, I go back to an old axiom I like to refer to "Don't confuse them with facts, their mind is made up."
Jose Ortal • Bullet points for each KPI and then sub-bullets in terms of met expectations.
Carla Long • Jose...that was the approach had been considering for my next meeting with the Executive Director. However, I've since had a meeting with the Associate Executive Director and I'm taking a slightly different approach.
Geoff...I'm afraid your responses are more in-line with what is going on inside the new Executive Director's head. It's funny because I've following another discussion on why projects fail and made a comment that people just hate to accept that it's happening to them. And here I sit looking back at the last 14 months recalling all the new faces I've seen in the company. At any rate the Assoc. Exec Dir gave me some insights and I'm (we're) going to take another approach for an upcoming internal meeting. Stay tuned.
Geoff...I'm afraid your responses are more in-line with what is going on inside the new Executive Director's head. It's funny because I've following another discussion on why projects fail and made a comment that people just hate to accept that it's happening to them. And here I sit looking back at the last 14 months recalling all the new faces I've seen in the company. At any rate the Assoc. Exec Dir gave me some insights and I'm (we're) going to take another approach for an upcoming internal meeting. Stay tuned.
Krister Lilleås • Carla, if i understand you correctly, and taking into consideration a common defenition of value adding. For your case it seems that you need to pinpoint what extra you bring to the table, that other consultants(?) in your price range don't deliver.
Are you the only one that can deliver what you have described?,
what makes you the best choice?
And as Geoff say's, are both parties clear on the definition of value add?
what makes you the best choice?
And as Geoff say's, are both parties clear on the definition of value add?
Carla Long • Krister...the definition of ValueAdd is one of many things I got cleared up during a recent meeting with the Assoc Exec Dir. We've come up with a strategy to, hopefully, head off any impacts to the structure of the IT / Development team dynamics. I do acknowledge that there are probably other PMs out there that could do what I do, but not with the years of expeience I have with the board. Not to mention the level of trust I have earned from its members and key stakeholders of the applications built and implemented by my team. Anyone new would have to start from the ground up so to speak.
Boon Nam Goh • One way to interpret the question is whether you helped the organisation to bring in more than enough net benefit to justify your pay. One possible answer could be that you managed large projects that brought in average of $x of net benefit each year.
Ramakrishna Arugollu • Hi Carla, In my opinion, they like to know your significant contribution towards the project. In my line of work, we refer to cost savings to the customer in USD, innovative ideas implemented per person, et as our value adds to the work. You might phrase your case accordingly. It should give clear idea to them on benefits of taking you in place of other ralatively low cost resources.
Mark Jones • I would be careful about depending too strongly on the value of your projects as justifying your value. Someone who is challenging your hourly rate already has the notion in mind that cheaper people exist who can be expected to achieve similar results. So you really need to focus on how your individual contribution adds value compared to a faceless replacement. Think in terms of these three areas:
What you know that others can't. The trouble is this is hard to quantify, so best here to gather testimonials like 'I don't know what we would have done if Carla didn't point out X on project Y'
You insights that saved real money. A good example would be a change request that you championed that made a big financial difference that someone in accounting can substantiate.
Your track record versus the rest of the world, I.e. what would be expected from a faceless replacement. Consider this arithmetic approach. Multiply one third of your rate times the number of PM hours in one of their typical projects (1/3 representing the discount for faceless replacement). Demonstrate that an overrun of just that amount on a typical project represents X% of budget, then note that the average overrun in the industry is much higher than that (presuming that's the case, of course). Then gently position the question, how much overrun are you willing to risk to reduce this small percentage of your project costs. In other words, retaining you is a risk mitigation. Supplement with testimonials.
Let us know how it works out!
Jim Ward • The question itself is stupid. If the executive does not believe that you are contributing to the organization, he or she should terminate you. If he or she doesn't know what you are contributing after two years, then they shouldn't be in that role. I would not work for someone like that. Time to polish up your resume and find a place where you are appreciated.
Also, I would not have made excuses for the 2 or 3 projects that were not totally successful in your estimation. Success is in the eye of the beholder and is not merely measured by the triple constraint. As long as you took the customer on your journey how can you know that the initial estimates were not incorrect. The only time a project can truly said to be late is when the project team has wasted time through poor planning or lack of effort.
- Maintained and increased good will with customers, even when not meeting traditional constraints.
- Provided examples of excellence for other Project Managers
- Did you mentor yet? If you have, you have help to bootstrap the overall level of expertise and experience of PM within the company
- Provided examples of excellence for other Project Managers
- Did you mentor yet? If you have, you have help to bootstrap the overall level of expertise and experience of PM within the company
Hugh Lynch • I look at value add as going above and beyond. If you have been hired with a defined job role then I suspect the company is expecting you to deliver successfully to that role and that is not the question. It sounds to me that they want to know that you are contributing more to the company then just meeting your obligations.
This is not unusual where companies want to improve productivity, to do more with what they have. This can be an opportunity for you to exhibit your value to the company.
Mark Jones • @Hugh, I actually saw Carla`s situation as being nearly the opposite of your observation. I think the ED acknowledges that Carla has been doing at least an adequate job but is questioning the premium the ED thinks is being paid for Carla`s expertise. So I think the question to be answered is what value add does Carla apply to the job itself that justifies her premium relative to what the ED thinks should be spent. That`s the rationale for my guidance above. In this context, adding value outside of project obligations is more like icing on the cake, because if the ED doesn`t like the cost of the cake batter, there`s not enough icing to compensate.
So, back to Carla, how is your situation evolving and what`s the state of mind of the ED relative the Hugh`s, my and other interpretations?
Have you thought about the projects you have done so far have contributed to your company's growth? May be he is looking in terms of benefits, knowledge gained by your company. Addition to OPA's etc..
Syed Ahmed • @Carla; as Mr. Geof says "Don't confuse them with facts, their mind is made up."they are hesitating because you are a good team player, so if any thing goes wrong it will effect on their business.
Syed Ahmed • @Carla; as Mr. Geof says "Don't confuse them with facts, their mind is made up."they are hesitating because you are a good team player, so if any thing goes wrong it will effect on their business.
Now what you have to do is show them how powerful you are!!! means the way you are controlling everything in the office at site etc..no body can do this.
Javier Lejardi • Carla, I totally agree with Jim's comments. Your boss seems to be completely oblivious to your contribution. Don't waste your time and energy trying to over justify project shortcomings; who knows what he has in mind already. Unless you notice a significant change in his behavior towards you, look for work elsewhere and avoid lots of frustrations.
Javier Lejardi • Carla, I totally agree with Jim's comments. Your boss seems to be completely oblivious to your contribution. Don't waste your time and energy trying to over justify project shortcomings; who knows what he has in mind already. Unless you notice a significant change in his behavior towards you, look for work elsewhere and avoid lots of frustrations.
Carla Long • Wow! Thanks everyone for your feedback. I’ve gotten many different perspectives on the question, which is exactly what I was hoping for. I've really been doing some real thinking on the Exec Dir’s question. At first I felt I was being paranoid. Then I realized the question actually was valid. Over the last few years I've become complacent in my position. The old Exec Dir and I had a very good working relationship and I knew what types of information she wanted in her weekly and monthly reports and I continued to supply the same information to the new Exec Dir. He wasn’t aware that I act as the BA on all the projects, thus saving them the cost of having to fund this position. He’s not aware that I supply the information they need to prepare the semi-annual board covers for project status and funding. I also don’t think he knows I have a decent relationship with many of the board members. I think the largest contribution I’ve made to the organization was the introduction of project management as a concept. I worked very hard with the old Exec Dir to make that happen; to show the cost and time benefits to the staff and senior management. However, all of that was done before the new Exec Dir was here. I just need to bring him up to speed on some of the history some of the vested knowledge I bring to the table that a new cheaper PM wouldn’t have. I have gotten on his meeting calendar so I can openly explain he caught me off-guard the other day and to see what information he wants to see about the projects and the team that he’s not getting currently. The meeting has been set up as a Q&A 60 minutes session. I figure this will allow both of us to try to get inside the others head for a brief moment. I’ve also stepped up my game so to speak. I have more a presence in the operations office and have started to include him on the distribution of the R-Y-G dashboard reports going to other senior managers, the report has a link to be dropped from the distribution list.
James Rittinghouse - MBA, PMP • Carla, while the Value-Added question may have some negative connotations; especially if you feel like you are having to justify "your value" ... don't let the negatives over-shadow the positives here. At least you have the opportunity to identify, justify, and promote understanding versus someone just "trading you out" for a less expensive resource. By the fact that you are being asked, recognize that you have the opportunity to EDUCATE. Perhaps the issue should not be "your rate", but your role... Obviously, with the higher rate comes experience and the ability to contribute "beyond your role". As a senior individual, perhaps you should discuss not just your experience, your hard earned expertise and the disciplines and insights you bring to the table to avoid common mistakes (expected by less experiences individuals in your role), but your contributions beyond your role that contribute to the bottom line, enhance efficiency, promote goodwill, build a better brand, promote a positive image (internal/external). It may be a good time to also discuss "expanding your role" to enable even more Value-Added Contribution. With time, we all become MORE... help your superiors see and understand you were hired to do x, but your are more than x, you add y, you are capable of adding even more y and once enabled can not only accomplish what you were hired to perform, but well beyond. (look up references on why someone would want to hire an over-qualified person for a job: http://blog.snelling.com/2012/10/5-benefits-of-hiring-someone-overqualified/ ).
Carla Long • James, I skimmed the article and liked what I read. I plan to take the time this evening to read the whole thing and the comments. I've trying to find some research on over-qualifed candidates / employees and this may be what I want. Thanks!
Jim Ward • Carla,
Your latest explanation, discussing your relationship with the previous director, makes very good sense. You need to establish your relationship with the current director. It sounds like you have a plan to preserve a job that you obviously want and enjoy. I hope you succeed in making the new director a champion of your efforts.
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1all projects could have been in the situation of those that have not met any of the target and so if I understood well you have saved them 9 out of 12 projects. The value you add is at least three fold and one of them is
their strategic or operational objectives are met to a great extent
get the numbers and prepare the figures based on the business case you had at the start of the project...
Tough...:-)
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1Congratulations! Have a great career!!
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0In my opnion an executive with more than 2 years within the corparation who doesn't already know your ValueAdd, this executive is not adding any value to the corporation himself. I would say that your corporation is being misslead...
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0You've gotten a lot of very good comments from the group, all with a different view, Use the information well, as it seems you have, and keep your attitude as well as it seems you have been able to. Best of luck, but I think it is more skill than luck with you.
There is a fundamental misunderstanding among many executives and project managers too about "Value Add." IMHO it has two dimensions "Product Value Add" and "Process Value Add." The sponsor is responsible for "Product Value Add." This is the business value that a successful project will contribute and that is clearly the responsibility of the sponsor and was the value that sold the project to the executive team in the first place. Your job is to deliver effective project management that achieves the sponsor's goal for the project. You can be eminently successful in doing that but the project fails to achieve the "Product Value Add" because the sponsor's idea was not sound. If you had enough insight to see the potential failure and tried to make the case but were unconvincing, you did your job.
Bob
As a manager, it is your responsibility to understand the value stream of the organization, and if you have to ask, do it in a non-intimidating way. This is particularly true for project managers who bear much responsibility but have little authority. The people who do well when put in this position are those with excellent people skills.