Get to know the C-Suite Management frameworks

Do you struggle to find the right words at meetings? You know you need to participate, but cannot think of what to say. Are you second guessing what you will say because you don’t understand what the others in the room may be thinking.

The C-Suite is an informal term that refers to the top executives of a company. They are the Leadership Team. The C-Suite is typically composed of the CEO, CFO, and the heads of various departments such as HR and Legal. They are the ultimate stakeholders, either directly or indirectly.

View the world through the lens of your stakeholder.

In every decision that is made, you should ask yourself whether or not it is easily reversible. If it is then not much time should be spent debating it. If not, then you and the team need to thoroughly examine the problem and available options.

By understanding the lens by which each of the C-Level stakeholders views the world and tackles a problem, you will be able to positively contribute in these meetings. You will be able to follow their train of thought and arrive at their conclusions before they have even said them. You will be able to understand their underlying interests and the motivations behind their thoughts and statements. You will be able to understand and apply the management decision making frameworks used by those in the C-Suite.

This page allows you to do exactly that. It documents the advances skills, models and logical frameworks that each department head learns in their university degrees, MBAs and specialist courses. You can then talk the same language and communicate more effectively with your colleagues and clients. Focus on these high-value frameworks to work smarter and not harder.

The C-Suite team

Data Protection Officer

(DPO)

Chief Technical Officer

(CTO)

Chief Product Officer

(CPO)

Chief Information Officer

(CIO)

Chief Communications Officer

(CCO)

Chief Opreations Officer

(COO)

Chief Financial Officer

(CFO)

Chief Marketing Officer

(CMO)

Chief Strategy Officer

(CSO)

Chief Security Officer

(CSO)

Chief Legal Officer

(Legal Council)

Chief Executive Officer

(CEO)

Chief Executive Officer

C.E.O.

A CEO is the most important person in an organization, who is responsible for choosing and implementing strategic direction. A CEO reports to the board of directors. The CEO will most likely be familiar with the frameworks that all of the other C-Level executives may use. In university or subsequent advanced specialist courses the CEO was most likely trained to see the world & organization & marketplace by using the following management frameworks;

VRIO Framework

VRIO is an analysis framework used to determine the competitive viability of a product or business.

When analyzing a resource, capability or aspect of a product or service, you ask yourself if it is:

Value: Is the offering valuable to customer?

Rarity: Is the offering hard to come by and consistently in demand?

Imitability: Is the offering hard or expensive to imitate, copy, clone or closely substitute?

Organization: Can the company provide this offering at a lower cost than competitors due to optimized processes, work systems and logistics?

If the answer to all of these questions is ‘yes’, then you have sustained competitive advantage. If not, then you either have competitive parity or a potential temporary advantage.

Project Manager Takeaway

The next step is to see what steps can be taken to increase the rating in each of these areas. This can be achieved by undertaking tasks ranging from new features, to patent protection to Business Process Optimization. As a Project Manager, once you have identified this, you can add value by suggesting further features or optimizations aligned to this framework.

Industry Life-cycle

Industry life cycle is a model that depicts the stages an industry goes through from introduction to growth, maturity, and decline.

This model divides the life of an industry into four stages: introduction, growth, maturity, and decline.

The introduction stage marks the start of an industry and includes the development of new products as well as advertising and customer acquisition.

The growth stage refers to the stage in which demand for the product is increasing and firms are expanding production. capacity to meet the increased demand.

The maturity stage is characterized by a slow or no growth in demand and a large number of firms competing for market share, with many small firms exiting.

The decline stage starts when competition between firms becomes intense and productivity falls. The product may become obsolete and there are fewer jobs in the industry.

Project Manager Takeaway

A Project Manager can better understand the risk and rewards associated with a project, once they have mapped it to the Industry Life-cycle. You should determine if you are working on a project that is aligned with your career goals.

GE McKinsey Matrix

The GE McKinsey nine box Matrix is a management tool that is used to organize and analyze the strengths and weaknesses of a given business. It divides the business into nine categories to create an assessment of how the company is performing based on Industry Attractiveness and the Strength of a Business Unit .

The GE McKinsey goes beyond the BCG Matrix (4 boxes) to better visualize where an offering / portfolio / business sits within the matrix. Based on where it sits you can determine whether to invest & grow the business, invest if there is leftover money to do so or invest just enough to keep the business afloat or alternatively divest/offload the business.

Project Manager Takeaway

By mapping your project to the GE McKinsey Matrix, a Project Manager can predetermine their risk profile and the strategic intent behind their project.  This will allow for a better Stakeholder analysis. The value of Change Requests can also be easily determined, once this is mapped.

Treacy and Wiersema’s Value Disciplines

The Value Disciplines are a set of four strategies for creating and managing value. These disciplines are the methods by which an organization creates value for its stakeholders by delivering more than what is expected.

Value Disciplines:

• Customer Intimacy
• Operational Excellence
• Product Leadership
• Financial Agility

Four rules should be observed in order to create a good value position.

• Try to be the best by excelling in one of the value disciplines (listed above).

• Maintain threshold standards on other value disciplines.

• Control the market by improving value year after year.

• Support the value discipline you have opted for by delivering a well-chosen (operating) organisational model.

Project Manager Takeaway

A Project Manager who can demonstrate some or all of these value disciplines becomes both valuable to an organisation and rare. Use these as driving factors in your career in order to continually add value that senior management desire. 

BCG Growth-Share Matrix

Boston Consulting Group’s product portfolio matrix (also known as BCG Growth-Share Matrix) is used by companies with a portfolio of products or services. It is used to determine which products should receive the larger investments in order to yield a greater return on that investment. The BCG matrix looks at products in terms of the market share and growth. Based on the placement within the quadrant matrix the recommended strategies are to ‘build share’, hold, harvest or divest (get rid of) your investment.

• Star [Large Market Share, High Growth]

  • Hold or harvest this product. It may be possible to build share depending on how high this product features in the quadrant.

• Cash Cow [Large Market Share, Low Growth]

  • Hold or harvest this product.

• Question Mark [Small Markets Share, High Growth]

  • Build share or divest this product

• Dog [Small Markets Share, Low Growth]

  • Hold, harvest, build share or divest this product. Its a risky strategy to build share here, but it can be done if market conditions are set to change.

Project Manager Takeaway

By mapping your project to the BCG Matrix, a Project Manager can predetermine their risk profile and the strategic intent behind their project.  This will allow for a better Stakeholder analysis. The value of Change Requests can also be easily determined, once this is mapped.

Ansoff Matrix

The Ansoff Growth Strategy matrix allows for four approaches to grow a business, depending on the product or service that you offer & the market that you are potentially to engage in. The options are listed below in order of Least Risky to Most Risky.

• Market Penetration [Existing Markets, Existing Products]

  • Focus on marketing or pricing strategies to gain more market share in your existing market

• Market development [New Markets, Existing Products]

  • Add features or use your product as a repurposed substitute to an existing product within a new market

• Product Development [Existing Markets, New Products]

  • Add an additional product into your existing market. This risks cannibalizing your market.

• Diversification [New Markets, New Products]

  • Add a new product into a new market that you may not yet fully understand.

Project Manager Takeaway

Placing your project within the Ansoff  Matrix will give you greater insight into the underlying motivation and business drivers for your project. It also aligns your project to a risk profile.  Use this information as part of your Stakeholder Analysis in order to determine the strategic intent behind the project and the stakeholder motivation. In turn, this will allow the PM to both speak the same language of the stakeholder, while also potentially providing insights & potential improvements that someone outside the project may have missed.

Cynefin framework

The Cynefin framework is an approach to understanding the complexity of systems. It provides a practical framework for observing situations and solving problems. Every situation is complicated and constantly changing, but there are different ways to understand it. The Cynefin framework distinguishes between four different types of context:

Clear: We know what to expect and we have a plan to deal with expected problems. Categorize these problems and deal with them based on Best Practices. 

Complicated: We don't know what to expect or how the situation will develop. These situations need to be analyzed more deeply and Good Practices used to deal with them.

Complex: Complex situations are those that are so unpredictable that they cannot be understood on a human level. These connections are often caused by a variety of factors that work together in an impromptu and unplanned way, such as natural disasters or unexpected political events. In complex situations, there is a high degree of uncertainty and unpredictability. As such the only way to deal with these situations is to probe and seek a quick response to determine if the solution will work. There are no known right answers, at the time, and these can only be determined retrospectively.

Chaotic: Chaotic contexts have the same unpredictable nature as Complex ones. The difference is that Chaotic contexts are often the consequences of a single powerful force, such as an earthquake or a hurricane. In this situation any action is needed, even if it turns out to be wrong. So act, look for feedback, and action again.

Project Management Takeaway

You can classify the problem that you are facing in one of the four ways within the Cynefin framework. Doing this will allow you a Project Manager to determine whether a proposed solution will accurately deal with a problem or not. Review your Risk Register, attribute the risk to the framework and determine your mitigation strategy from there.

PESTEL Analysis

The PESTEL analysis is a framework for understanding the external environment that a business operates in, identifying the opportunities and threats . It includes the following:

• Political - What are the prevailing attitudes and trends in government, politics, and legislation?

• Economic - What are the economic trends and issues?

• Social - What is the social mood of society?

• Technological - How does technology affect our lives and what are its limitations?

• Environmental - What is the environmental context in which we operate?

• Legal - What are the prevailing laws and regulations that govern an industry or business activity?

Each of these broad areas are then subdivided into more specific categories. For example, the political category is divided into such sections as government structure and leadership; legislation; politics; party systems and electoral processes.

Political Leadership:

• What type of government is in place? What type of political leadership is present and how has it changed over time?

• Can you describe the process by which political power is transferred from one leader to another and how this process has evolved over time?

Government Structure:

• What are the responsibilities of different government institutions, such as parliament, opposition parties, supreme courts, central banks, etc.?

• What type of governing body is in place?

• What are the powers of this body and what does it do?

• What types of decisions does this governing body make and how are these decisions made?

• Who makes up this governing body, such as appointed officials, elected members, or officials with lifetime appointments?

• Who can become a government official and how is that determined?

• How often must elections be held to viewed as democratic?

These types of questions are asked to probe each of the others elements of PESTEL in order to provide a robust insight into the potential market that a business is considering entering.

Project Manager Takeaway

A Project Manager who understands this will be able to more easily uncover risks and mitigate against them.

Porter’s Five Forces

The Five Forces model analyzes the competitive environment of a certain industry. It uses a visualization of the industry to determine the attractiveness of the industry for potential entrants. The five forces model consists of five forces, which represent the competitive threats that a company faces:

• A threat from new competitors

• A threat from substitutes

• A threat of existing competitors expanding production and market share

• A threat of substitutes

• An existing competitive rivalry amongst competitors

Porter's Five Forces model is an illustration of these forces and is typically represented with a quadrant, with 'competitive rivalry' at the centre. The five forces are an important tool for understanding the competitive forces at work in an industry and how to assess a company's position in it. The framework can be applied to any given industry and helps reveal areas where companies should focus their efforts.

Project Manager Takeaway

As a Project Manager if you can place your project within its boundaries, then this will give you greater insight into the underlying motivation and business drivers for your project. Knowing this information allows you to use it as part of your Stakeholder Analysis. You can determine the strategic intent behind the project and the stakeholder motivation. In turn, this will allow you to both speak the same language of the stakeholder, while also potentially providing insights & potential improvements that someone outside the project may have missed.

SWOT Analysis

A SWOT analysis is a simple way to do a self evaluation of a company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It is used to evaluate the internal and external environment faced by an organization.

• Strengths: These are factors that are favorable or beneficial to the company. Strengths may include market share, high quality products, strong management, Brand recognition, etc.

• Weaknesses: These are factors that are unfavorable or detrimental to the company. Weaknesses may include low product quality, high employee turnover, lack of capitalization etc.

• Opportunities: These are factors that can lead to growth and improvement in the company. Opportunities may include new market developments, product development, etc.

• Threats: These are factors that could result in challenges for the company. Threats may include industrial espionage, regulatory restrictions on production, etc.

Project Manager Takeaway

Placing your project within the SWOT quadrant will give you greater insight into the underlying motivation and business drivers for your project. A Project Manager who knows this information can then use this information as part of their Stakeholder Analysis in order to determine the strategic intent behind the project and the stakeholder motivation. In turn, this will allow the PM to both speak the same language of the stakeholder, while also potentially providing insights & potential improvements that someone outside the project may have missed.

Business Model Canvas

The Business Model Canvas is the ultimate Executive Summary. It contains the complete business model on one page.

The Business Model canvas contains 4 sections containing a total of 9 building blocks. These are;

• Key Partners - Those companies or suppliers that the company does business with.
• Key Activities - The tasks that the company must complete in order to do business.
• Key Resources - The departments (or people) that are central to the business.
• Value Propositions - This is the value and services that that company offers.
• Customer Relationships - The relationships that must be maintained to stay in business.
• Channels - This lists the ways in which the company reaches its clients or shoppers.
• Customer Segments - The types of people that the business is targeting.
• Cost Structures - The underlying costs that must be paid to maintain the business. This can include rents, payrolls, fees etc.
• Revenue Streams - The way(s) in which the company generates money. 

Project Manager Takeaway

The Business Model Canvas is a fundamental business overview. It removes all of the extras and focuses on the essentials. For a Project Manager to create and maintain a Business Model canvas for their company will allow them to understand the key business drivers and thereby align those drivers back to projects.

Long Tail

The Long Tail is a term used to describe the phenomena where the sales of a large number of obscure products exceeds the sales of much more popular items.

While the long tail is typically applied to business and economics, it can also be applied to individual consumers. The long tail of an individual's purchasing habits might include things like local restaurants, independent or foreign films, or books published by an independent press.

Due to the Internet it is possible to offer a wider range of products and services than would otherwise be sold in a store. This can include items that would not be profitable enough to make space on shelves or in bins.

Project Manager Takeaway

A Stakeholder analysis related to a Long Tail project should identify the marketing department as a key stakeholder for this project and its likely that their inputs will be key here.

Value Chain Analysis

Value chain analysis is a strategic business analysis technique that lists value-adding activities and the corresponding partners or suppliers that provide each activity.

The phrase "value-adding activity" refers to those tasks that are performed in order to create products or services, such as producing, packaging, and distributing.

Project Manager Takeaway

Scope or Change Requests that do not align to the outcome of the Value Chain analysis should be questioned by the Project Manager in order to add value.

Chief Financial Officer

C.F.O.

The CFO or Financial Controller handles the finances for a company, and as such, they are responsible for ensuring that the company is financially stable and risks are reduced. In order to do this, they use a number of different logical frameworks and business tools to handle the financing, book keeping and reporting of the business. One of these tools is a balance sheet. A balance sheet lists all the assets and liabilities that a company has on the date it's being looked at. In university or subsequent advanced specialist courses the CFO was most likely trained to see the world & organization by using the following management frameworks;

Diversification

Diversification is a company growth strategy. Based on Ansoff’s Product Market Matrix, this is the New Product, New Market approach. It is supposed to be a company approach to mitigate risk by expanding to a new markets. In times of volatility, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, diversification can be used to offset the losses in one business of product with the gains from another. Diversification can make sense if the raw materials, resources (shared expertise in marketing, Research & Development & logistics) can be shared. Such utilisation saves costs also.

Diversification can be ill-advised if undertaken for based on weak logic or not not implemented correctly, as it sucks up time and resources from multiple departments such as corporate, legal, marketing etc. 

Project Manager Takeaway

As a Project Manager you may want to think twice about being associated with a diversification project that is not founded on solid logic. 

Profit Tree

A Profit Tree is an simple but powerful analysis tool that looks like a structured decision tree. When using it, you use deductive logic to start from the current situation and work backwards to get to the root cause of an issue. The issue usually concerns declining profits and the Profit Tree is logically structured to examine whether this is because of declining revenues or increasing costs, or vice versa. When more layers are added to the branches, you can uncover more scenarios such as a weak value proposition or opportunities for marketing.

Project Manager Takeaway

The Profit Tree can be used to get an understanding of a company or product, or as a diagnostic tool for problems. It can even be used to identify growth opportunities. A Project Manager may refer to the branches when determining whether to accept or reject a Change Request and the impact that it may have on the schedule versus the impact it has on the company's profits.

Burn Multiple

The Burn Multiple is the calculated number that highlights how much money the company is using in order to generate each additional dollar/euro/pound of ARR. This should be between 1x and 2x. Anything lower is amazing and anything higher signifies trouble.

Project Manager Takeaway

If a Project Manager is managing a project that contributes to the lowering of the Burn Multiple, then they should know of the strategic important nature of their project to the business. Any Change Request or additional feature should be measured in terms of how significant the feature contributes to lowering the Burn Multiple.

Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)

In a company that has reoccurring revenue, such as a subscription service or licensing service the ARR is the amount of money that comes in to the business every year. It is important because it signifies a company’s health and allows for revenues to be forecast.

Project Manager Takeaway

A Project Manager can align Earned Value analysis with the AAR to ensure that company Cash Flow occurs at an acceptable rate.

Cash Runway

Being able to pay employees and suppliers is the lifeblood of any business and it is the CFO’s responsibility to ensure that the company has enough cash coming into the business.

They will look to build up a Cash Runway, which is the number of months that they the company can stay afloat without any money coming in. This is typically 12 to 18 months.

Project Manager Takeaway

A Project Manager in a SAAS company should even be roughly  aware of the Cash Runway in order to determine the risk that their project brings to a company. This knowledge can be used to deflect unessential Change Requests until post Go-Live, in order to maintain or extend the Cash Runway.

Payback Period

Every project costs money. The CFO may be interested in the Payback Period, which is the breakeven point of the amount of money invested in the project compared to the length of time it will take to generate the same amount of money as a return on that investment.  The shorter the timeframe, the more attractive it will be for them. 

This approach has its criticisms such as the fact that it ignores the Time Value of Money (TVM) where money is worth more now than it is in the future ($5 is worth more to you now than it will be in 5 years time due to both inflation & the alternative ways you could invest that money). It also ignores risks taken strategically. However, the Payback Period is really easy to understand and implement (Payback Period = Upfront investment / Average Annual Cash Flow).

Project Manager Takeaway

As such, the above information is great for a Project Manager to know in order to speak the language of the CFO. 

Discount Cash Flow

The concept behind Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) / Net Present Value (NPV) is that a certain amount of money is worth more today then it is in the future. This is because of many reasons including the fact that you could invest this money now & earn interest or returns on it. Inflation also decreases the value over money over time. DCF can be applied to any asset can be used to earn.

Project Manager Takeaway

Project Managers can often use Discounted Cash Flow analysis to calculate how much money a company is going to make or lose over the life of the investment in a project.

Chief Legal Officer / Legal Council

C.L.O.

The chief legal officer is responsible for overseeing all legal decisions and managing the company's risks. The chief legal officer needs to know about the most recent laws and regulations, as well as be aware of any potential problems that may arise. In order to fulfill these responsibilities, the Chief Legal Officer will use a variety of logical frameworks and business tools. In university or subsequent advanced specialist courses the CLO was most likely trained to see the world & marketplace by using the following management frameworks;

Company Law

Legal Council understand the industry in which the company operates. They must understand this in order to navigate and stay on the right side of the law. They understand raising capital and shares and shareholder rights. They also understand how a company operates from appointments to dismissals, from voting to corporate governance. When a Project Manager speaks about their project in terms of governance and performance, the Legal council may be listening to ensure that they are operating within the boundaries of all of the company policies and processes.

Project Manager Takeaway

Given all of this knowledge, Project Managers can bolster their knowledge of project governance from Legal officers and Legal councils.

Contract Law

Along with knowing how to form a contract, the Legal Council has a firm understanding of what is deemed an offer and acceptance.

They are aware of intention and the certainty of an agreement. They think in terms of conditions, warranties, clauses and terms. They understand the conditions that can cause people to do things that they didn't mean to by duress, mistake, undue influence or even misrepresentation. They are aware of the constraints and breach of a contract. As a Project Manager so should you.

Before entering into an agreement with clients and stakeholders, you need to be extremely clear on the scope, schedule and budget of a project. This is all contained within a written contract, along with the conditions that allows for that project contract to be broken.

Project Manager Takeaway

A Project Manager should can even work alongside Legal Council to firm up a contract. Knowledge learned here can be applied to the Statement of Work, Request For Proposals and requirements themselves.

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is the process of analyzing and evaluating thoughts, ideas, and beliefs. It requires you to think about how to assess the validity of your thoughts or an idea.

'Critical Thinking' is a fundamental course model in most legal courses and for good reason. It teaches you to evaluate the truth of claims. To determine the reliability of sources of information and then determine the acceptability of contentions and conclusions for yourself.

The steps typically involved in critical thinking are:

• Identify the issue or problem
• Define the issue or problem in writing
• Identify the key information needed to address the issue or problem
• Collect and examining all relevant evidence on the issue or problem
• Determine validity of arguments and conclusions
• Drawing your own conclusion
• Take action and offer solutions.

Project Manager Takeaway

Project Managers can benefit greatly from learning to think in this way as it will allow you to view everything from requirements to project plans to dependencies to defects in a different light.

Chief Human Resources Officer

C.H.R.O.

The Chief Human Resources Officer oversees the development of human resources policies and procedures, job descriptions, recruitment strategy, and benefits. They are responsible for recruiting employees and assessing their skills before hiring them. After hiring an employee the Chief Human Resources Officer can manage the on-boarding process to help new hires adjust to the company culture. They are interested in ensuring compliance to company policies and ensuring work-life balance. They identify key resources within the organisation and work to ensure that they are supported and motivated. They will most likely utilise one of the models below to manage HR within the organisation. Knowing which one they have selected can give you insight into their rigid or flexible approach. It also highlights how they expect employees are motivated. In university or subsequent advanced specialist courses the CHRO was most likely trained to see the world & organization by using the following management frameworks;

The Ulrich Model (HRM)

The Ulrich Model was designed to make move from strategic management to administrative functions. It has been used by many major companies worldwide and is considered a classic among HR professionals. . It is also known as the business partner model, as it focuses on people and relationships within an organization. However in a world where the workplace is constantly changing, this model may now be outdated

The Ulrich model promotes simplifying, reengineering, and automation of HR processes. This ensures that HR professionals spend less time on ineffective administrative tasks. The intended outputs are better-trained, happier employees who feel more valued. In other words, the Ulrich model works by creating a positive culture in the workplace and making everyone feel a part of it.

Project Manager Takeaway

As a people manager as well as a project manager, this model should afford you the freedom to grow your team in terms of expertise and psychological safety.

ASTD Competency Model (HRM)

The ASTD model defines the ten competencies of leadership, management, coaching, innovation, change management, and teamwork. It provides a common language and defines the future state of the training profession.

The Competency Model provides a common set of descriptors for the performance of three essential professional levels in an organization.

• The Foundational level includes essential competencies: interpersonal, personal, and business.

• The Focus level introduces Areas of Expertise (AoE) competencies such as career planning, to learning and training, up to coaching and evaluating.

• The Execution level includes four roles that require successful execution: learning strategist, business partner, professional specialist and (of course) project manager.

By assessing each person's performance against these competencies, HR managers can help their employees improve their performance.

Project Manager Takeaway

As this model holds Project Management in high regard, a Project Manager should be able to grow their competencies within their daily activities and be supported. If not, the Project Manager should point back to this ASTD model and seek additional support. 

The Standard Causal Model (HRM)

The Standard Causal Model demonstrates a causal chain between various HR activities and the organization's overall strategy. It identifies six major factors that affect HR outcomes:

• Overall strategy

• HR strategy

• HR practices

• HR outcomes

• Internal performance

• Financial performance

The Standard Causal Model for HR combines internal and external factors in a chain that results in positive or negative HR outcomes. As it considers more factors outside of the organization, it's useful for measuring the effects of organizational culture on the performance of employees and managers.

The Standard Causal Model emphasizes individuals over organizations. When people are treated as individuals, managers may over-emphasize organizational goals, while employees are valued as assets. This approach can help HR practitioners understand the impact of organizational goals and objectives on employee performance.

Project Manager Takeaway

A Project Manager working within a company ruled by the Standard Causal Model should be able to enhance the capabilities of both  their team and themselves. 

The 8-Box Model (HRM)

The 8-Box Model describes how the interior and exterior environment of an organization can affect the work processes and behavior of employees. It is based on the notion that businesses must focus on their overall financial results and improve their practices. This framework includes more external factors that can impact the financial performance of a company. Ultimately, it helps organizations improve their operations.

This framework is also known as the HR value chain.

The 8-Box model contains eight boxes containing various factors. Four boxes of influences feed into the core HR practice box, while the other three boxes influence the core strategy, leading to the last box the Ultimate Business Goal. This framework allows HR managers to analyze their own processes and outcomes as well as the behaviors of their employees. By analyzing these factors, HR managers can better determine which practices to use and which ones to avoid.

Project Manager Takeaway

The 8-box model requires a lot of analysis and feedback. A Project Manager is in a prime position to assign HR in identifying, implementing and observing the factors that HR are interested in.

5Ps Model (HRM)

The 5Ps Model is a strategic management framework, which requires alignment of five variables:

• Purpose

• Principles

• Processes

• People

• Performance

Purpose is a critical element in achieving a company's objectives, while principles are guiding philosophies and assumptions of the organization. They include a company's core values and integrity base. When these are not aligned, time, energy, and money are wasted.

The 5Ps comprise the purpose of the organization and the principles by which employees are guided. If these factors are out of alignment, in-congruence will occur, resulting in wasted resources and dissatisfaction among employees.

Project Manager Takeaway

As this model is usually easy to recognize, it allows a Project Manager to not only capitalize on the elements in use, but also speak the same language as HR.

The Warwick Model (HRM)

The Warwick Model is a framework built on HRM and considers human resources management (HRM) practices, external and internal factors, and the processes of change. This model acknowledges that HRM practices depend on both internal and external circumstances, and it focuses on identifying the content and context of HRM practices.

The Warwick Model views HRM practices and outcomes as interconnected.

Its comprised of

• Outer Context

• Inner Context

• HRM Context

• Business Strategy

• HRM Content

This model is not easily adaptable, and it requires a large amount of time and effort to reap its benefits. However, this strategy is widely used in HR.

Project Manager Takeaway

As per the HRM, if this model is used within your organization, then understanding the model will allow a Project Manager to maximize the HRM Outputs by utilizing the HRM Policies & Business Strategy.

The Harvard Model (HRM)

The Harvard model focuses on achieving the highest levels of productivity and commitment from employees. It is typically associated with public sector organizations. It is noted that this model is not ideal and cannot be used by every company. It focuses on maximizing the contribution of individual employees to the success of the organization.

The Harvard Model has five interconnected factors;

• Situational Factors

• Stakeholder Interest

• HRM Policies (takes Situational Factors & Stakeholder Interest as inputs)

• HRM Outcomes

• Long Term Consequences

The Harvard Model focuses on cooperation and motivational practices, empowering general managers to engage in HR. It is based on the belief that human resources can provide organizations with a significant competitive advantage.

Project Manager Takeaway

If this model is used within your organization, then understanding the model will allow a Project Manager to maximize the HRM Outputs by utilizing the HRM Policies.

Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership Styles

Situational leadership is a leadership style that is determined by the situation. The style can change depending on the situation and requires a flexible approach.

The Hersey and Blanchard Situational Leadership styles are based on the leadership style matching with the situation. Hersey and Blanchard came up with four different situations to classify the leadership style.

S1. Directing. This is where the leader decides what should be done and offers little in the way of supportive behaviour in order for the subordinate to achieve the task

S2 Coaching. This is where the leader, coach, or trainer walks you through your thoughts and ideas and helps you find the words to clarify them.

S3 Supporting. This is where the leader doesn’t tell the person how to do the job but instead lets them decide and supports and assists along the way.

S4 Delegating. This is where the leader delegates the task and offers little in the way of directive or supportive feedback. Such a leader is typically then freed up to focus their time on other things and tasks that need attention. This will ensure that the leader has more time for what is most important to them.

Project Manager Takeaway

A Project Manager using this matrix will learn to adapt their leadership style to best match the team member in order to maximize their potential. 

Fiedler’s Contingency Model of Leader-Situation Matches

Fiedler's contingency model of leadership is based on the premise that different leadership styles are more appropriate for different types of situations. In his theory, an appropriate relationship between the leader and the subordinates will lead to maximum performance.

A high score on the 16 item Last-Preferred Co-Worker (LPC) Scale, indicates that you are a relationship-orientated leader. A low score indicates that you are task orientated. 

Next we examine whether the department, project, team is structured or unstructured (think: Agile vs. Waterfall) and then matches the leadership style to determine whether that leader is a good fit.

Project Manager Takeaway

For a Project Manager, this is a nice exercise in determining whether  you are an immediate right fit for a project role. Or whether you will need to adapt to suit the role and achieve your project goals. 

Blake and Mouton’s Managerial Grid

The Blake and Mouton Managerial Grid is a model that differentiates between five different types of management based on their concern for results over their concern for people.

The grid can be broken up as follows

Low concern for People / Low concern for Results: Impoverished Management.

Disorganised and indifference has lead to this ineffective manager creating havok for their team.

High concern for People / High concern for Results: Team Management.

This is viewed as the most effective type of management. They look after their teams and their teams are committed to looking after their peers and manager. They ensure that their team understand the organisations purpose (the ‘why’) and are committed to it.

Medium concern for People / Medium concern for Results: Middle of the Road Management.

This manager looks to strike the right balance, but this approach may not always pay off, with the team delivering mediocre results.

Low concern for People / High concern for Results: Produce-or-Perish authoritarian Management.

Productivity comes first. This manager typically rules using strict policies and procedures. This manager is about as anti-Agile as they come and would subscribe to the Theory X approach to motivation, working under the assumption that the team are naturally unmotivated.

High concern for People / Low concern for Results: Country Club Management.

Based on the assumption that if the team are happy, they will deliver, this manager looks to accommodate their team. If productivity is suffering, then direction and control from this manager may be an issue.

Project Manager Takeaway

As a Project Manager and a people manager, it is worthwhile examining yourself against this grid to determine where your strengths and weaknesses lie. You can then work on these to balance your concerns for people and tasks. Be aware that you can flex in different directions when needed.

The LAMP framework

In the Big Data world, this logical framework is put in place following on from a situation and stakeholder analysis.

The LAMP human resources logical framework focuses on understanding the logic behind a problem, analyzing data, and creating a process to address issues discovered. It is data driven but can be incorrectly applied or can quickly become stale as a problem may no longer exist.

Project Manager Takeaway

Project Managers can assist in the collection of this data and HR may even require assistance in efficiently implementing the LAMP framework. An area where a Project Manager is an expert in.

Chief Security Officer

C.S.O.

The Chief Security Officer (CSO) or Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) has to use a variety of tools and frameworks in order to defend the company's network. These can range from antivirus software to firewalls, content filters and more. The security officer also needs to be able to identify threats and vulnerabilities in the system and make sure they are properly addressed. They speak in terms of risk and resilience. In university or subsequent advanced specialist courses the CSO was most likely trained to see the world & organization by using the following management frameworks;

COSO Risk Management Framework

The American Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) Framework is a set of standards for assessing and managing enterprise risks. This well respected framework was simplified from the complex ‘COSO ERM Cube‘ (it looks like a Rubic Cube) to the intertwines ribbon-type diagram to illustrate the five categories that weave throughout an organization’s lifecycle.

COSO’s ERM framework contains 5 components with 20 principles spread throughout the components. Those components are:

• Governance and Culture – For management oversight.

• Strategy & Objective-Setting – For strategic planning related to internal and external risk factors.

• Performance – To measure how an organization measures against its prioritized goals.

• Review and Revision – To assess any changes needed based on the ever changing risk landscape.

• Information, Communication, and Reporting – To capture, process, manage, and report risk and performance.

Project Manager Takeaway

A Project Manager can help in many areas of this framework; from risk identification, to governance to reporting. 

NIST Cybersecurity Framework

The American National Institute of Standards and Technology has developed a flexible Cybersecurity Framework to help organizations manage cybersecurity risks. The framework provides a common language for organizations to discuss cybersecurity, sets principles to guide decision-making, and defines a set of measures to assess risk.

The framework is composed of five core functions:

• Identify. Determine the assets and processes that need to be protected
• Protect. Protect and safeguard the assets identified
• Detect. Implement processes and mechanisms to detect any cyber security incidents
• Respond. Determine response strategies, ahead of time, should such an incident occur.
• Recover. Utilise the mechanisms put in place to quickly recover from any incidents.

Project Manager Takeaway

A Project Manager who is not directly involved in the cyber-security can prove very useful to the CSO by being aware of NIST. They can help by proactively identifying vulnerabilities and opportunities. They can also assist in implementing them, even as mini side-projects.

Chief Strategy Officer

C.S.O.

The Chief Strategy Officer must understand the various logical frameworks and business tools that are available across all of the various department. They must be able to develop strategies and plans to help a company thrive. They are responsible for communicating these plans to various stakeholders, such as the CEO, the company board, or the staff. They focus on market analysis, risks, partnerships, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), strategy analysis and execution. In university or subsequent advanced specialist courses the CSO was most likely trained to see the world & marketplace by using the following management frameworks; 

OKRs

Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) is a goal-setting framework to define measurable objectives/goals and track their results/outcomes.

The Objectives are based off of the company's vision or mission. Each Objective will have one or more Key Results derived from them.  Each result should be written in a SMART format.

Project Manager Takeaway

Project Managers can use OKRs in multiple ways. They can use them to ensure  alignment between their project and the company mission. They can use them to ensure that their personal results are aligned to the company mission, thereby creating default value for the business. And they can use them to align their teams output / results with the overall company vision. This can furthermore be useful in 'one on one' feedback sessions.

Balanced Scorecard

The Balanced Scorecard aligns the company's strategic goals with the individual team members objectives. 

The Balanced Scorecard is a performance measurement that can be used by companies to align strategic goals with the individual team members objectives. It takes into consideration four key perspectives: financial, customers, internal process and learning & growth. It includes five balanced perspectives: financial perspective (keeping score), customer perspective (concerned with customers), internal perspective (concerned with employees), operational perspective (concerned about operational efficiency) and learning; growth perspective (concerned with the organizations long-term success).

Project Manager Takeaway

Project Managers should use and refer to the Balance Scorecard to ensure that both their department and their professional goals are aligned to that of the company.

Blue Ocean strategy

A Blue Ocean strategy is a philosophy of market competition. A blue ocean is created when a company offers a product that satisfies unmet customer needs and thereby creates new demand.

This strategy is based on the idea that the most successful companies in the future will be those that offer products and services that are innovative, create new markets and have high value to customers.

The principle of Blue Ocean strategy is to avoid competitive markets (red oceans) and create new demand by satisfying needs of the overlooked majority of all customers (blue oceans).

The market for automobile air conditioning units is a classic example of a Red Ocean. For decades, manufacturers have competed for limited demand by making incremental improvements in their products. As a result, profits are slim, and the market is stagnant. In contrast, the market for electric vehicle battery packs is a Blue Ocean market. And there are already signs of it becoming one. A blue ocean strategy seeks to create markets that have not yet been created, or in niches where existing markets have become so saturated that competition has become non-viable. The goal of the strategy is to find a new market where the competition is not yet fierce. By opening up new markets, blue oceans strategy companies can create a new source of revenue and profits, while also providing options for consumers where there had been none before.

Project Manager Takeaway

As a Project Manager working on a project related to a Blue Ocean strategy, you will benefit from using an Agile framework and be able to make quick decisions to move in the right direction.

Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA)

A CSO must often decide upon multiple options. They must weigh up the advantages, disadvantages and opportunity costs of undertaking a certain project. When there are multiple options, they can use MCDA to decide. Here is how they would do that.

Step 1: List the different criteria and prioritize them according to their importance in your problem.

Step 2: Define the weights of each criterion, which are between 0 and 1.

Step 3: Calculate the weighted scores for each criterion using Equation 1.

Step 4: Compare the values in Step 3 with the cut-off values in Step 2. If a score is present, then that criterion has been met.

Step 5: If all criteria have been met, then you can move on to evaluating alternatives based on their scores.

Project Management Takeaway

A Project Manager can also use MCDA to decide which Change Requests or defects to tackle first.

Mintzburg's 5Ps of Strategy

It is seen that there are five separate ways in which an strategy can develop within an organisation. 

• Plan - This is a conscious effort to create a strategy by brainstorming and analysing the market.
• Ploy - Strategy can be created from the efforts to influence competitors in the market. Game Theory is a useful tool here.
• Pattern - Some strategies are emerge naturally within a company. By observing how a company behaves, unintended strategies can be identified.
• Position - Positioning a company or product in a marketplace can be a strategy in itself. Sometimes this can be reviewing Gartner's Magic Quadrant and making changes to product offerings in order to move to a different area on that quadrant. 
• Perspective - Looking at the larger picture than just a product or market position is a greater strategy. It can be about how the employees perceive a company or how customers view a product.

Project Manager Takeaway

Project Managers who understand the business strategy and the drivers or such can ensure that their projects are aligned to offer the greatest value.

Chief Communications Officer

C.C.O.

The Chief Communication Officer (CCO) should be using logical frameworks and business tools to assure that the messages of the company are unified. The CCO should employ a series of communication tools including metrics and analytics, corporate and executive communications, social media strategy, reputation management, crisis management and more. In university or subsequent advanced specialist courses the CCO was most likely trained to see the world & marketplace by using the following management frameworks;

Lasswell's Communication model

This classic communication model has stood the test of time based on is simplicity and relevance. The model breaks down and defines communication by noting:

• Who was the Communicator?
• What was the Message?
• In which Channel or Medium did this message originate?
• Who was the intended Audience for this Message?
• What Effect did the Message intent to have on that Audience?

By asking these questions with each piece of communication stated or published, the CCO can ensure that their intended communication delivers the message that they intended.

Project Manager Takeaway

Project Managers can utilise this model in their communications with Stakeholders and in their Status Reports. Carefully analyse the message being broadcast based on its intended impact.

Central Route Persuasion

Communicators looking to influence or persuade an audience are aware that there are different approaches that they can take. Some are more successful than others. 

Central Route Persuasion seeks to change a behavior. Central Route Persuasion should be used when you need the audience to think in order to change their mind. You will use lots of facts and statistics to back up the argument . Here you will be looking to implement lasting change.

On the other hand, Peripheral Route Persuasion seeks to change an attitude. Peripheral Route Persuasion should be used when you don't have overwhelming facts and need to be more vague. You are not looking for your audience to think too much.

Peripheral Route Persuasion can make use of the Halo Effect, where celebrates are used to sell a product. 

Project Manager Takeaway

If you are using Central Route Persuasion then you should be more factual and use more statistics. The audience needs to be primed to think. If you are using Peripheral Route Persuasion then you should be vague and use less statistics. The audience needs to be charmed

Berlo's SMCR Model

This simple communication model  may be basic to the CCO, but it forms the basis of their communications. SMCR stands for;

• Sender - A person, based on their background, education and culture expresses or encodes an idea. 
• Message - The elements of a message is encoded in some sort of structure, such as a sentence. 
• Channel - The message is delivered through some sort of channel, such as visual or audible. Or through smell or touch or taste. 
• Receiver - Another person(s) then decodes the message based on their background, education and culture, as well as the context in which it was delivered.

Project Manager Takeaway

A Project Manager should be aware of this basic form of communication before moving onto the more complex versions, so that their communications are are clear and concise as possible. Future models introduce the concept of noise or distortion to the message being conveyed. 

Chief Information Officer

C.I.O.

The Chief Information Officer is responsible for developing and managing a company's Information Technology needs. The CIO is often called upon to oversee all aspects of technical infrastructure, including security, data management, and software. They also use logical frameworks and business tools to manage the IT needs of their company. In university or subsequent advanced specialist courses the CIO was most likely trained to see the world & marketplace by using the following management frameworks;

Cloud Computing

Regardless of the framework that the CIO will implement, they have most likely implemented it around a Cloud network such as those offered by Amazon (AWS) Google (GCP), Microsoft (Azure),  Oracle, IBM or Alibaba.

Benefits of cloud computing include

• Rapid elasticity: the ability to rapidly scale up and down as demand changes.
• On-Demand Self-Service: Allows the CIO to unilaterally provision computing resources as needed
• Pay-as-you-go resource allocation: Companies will see what they use. They are billed instead of purchasing a fixed amount of computing power.
• Economic savings: Using cloud computing generates significant cost savings for organizations that were previously limited by IT infrastructure costs.
• Lower investment: Enterprises can avoid higher spending on computer storage and servers, building equipment and data centers.
• Improved IT security and compliance: In today's environment (of hackers and malware), it is not cost-effective to improve infrastructure in the way cloud computing companies can deliver.
• Ensure disaster recovery: The Offsite disaster recovery is in integrated services.

Project Manager Takeaway

Project Manager can steer their teams towards CI/CD for rapid deployment to these cloud environments. 

Val IT Framework

The Val IT Framework is a simple and easy-to-implement framework that helps companies understand the risks of their business processes. It helps to analyze the scores for each risk and to select the few that are worth investigating further Due to its simplicity and high degree of applicability, many companies have already adopted it.

Val IT Framework benefits

Here are some of its benefits:

• It is an effective way for companies to assess their processes and make strategic decisions about how they should invest time and resources, in order to achieve sustainable growth over time.
• It provides a clear structure for taking a systematic approach to process improvement. It can also be used as a guide for assessing whether a process needs to be changed or not.
• Companies can choose which processes they want to apply the framework to. For example, you could use it on your customer service process or your marketing process. This means that any company can use the framework without having to worry about all of the processes within their organization.
• It has been proven successful in numerous organizations across multiple industries – including banks, retail stores, healthcare providers and government agencies.

Val IT Processes

The Val IT Framework focuses on:

• Value Governance
• Portfolio Management
•  Investment Management

Challenges in implementing the Val IT Framework

• The amount of time and effort required to implement it.
• The need for a significant amount of change to existing process and culture.
• A lack of understanding from both business users and IT staff on what is to be delivered by the framework.

Val IT Framework assumptions

The framework is meant for strategic thinking, which means it’s about identifying areas where a company or organization should invest its time and resources in order to succeed over time. VAL IT Framework is based on strategic thinking. This framework assumes that you have a goal of growth and not just survival. This framework encourages strategic thinking as opposed to tactical action.

Project Manager Takeaway

A Project Manager can gain much knowledge from reviewing the Val IT Framework documentation and decisions. Take the time to relate how the tactics align to the strategy. Review the risk identification and mitigation approach. Then use these approaches and practices in your own project.

COBIT (Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology) Framework

COBIT is a set of principles, processes, and practices that organizations can implement to manage their information and related technology. 

COBIT can be divided into two parts. Governance and Management.

COBIT Governance

COBIT Governance seeks to Evaluate, Direct and Monitor Business Needs based on Management Feedback. It lays out policies and procedures, as well as Implementation Roadmaps for Business Cases for IT.

COBIT Management

COBIT 5 Management can be broken down into four parts, which are run in sequence. 

Align, Plan and Organize (APO)

This section states how organizations can do the following to achieve their desired results.

• Align business strategy
• Plan for information and related technology.
• Organize resources.

The first step is to define the organization's mission. What are they trying to accomplish? What are their goals? This will help to determine what information will be used to accomplish this goal.

Next, organizations should create an enterprise architecture that allows them to identify resource needs and document what information will be used by each function or department within their organization.

Lastly, organizations need to develop a plan that outlines how they will manage information and related technology as well as the resources needed to do so effectively.

The plan should include milestones that should be met, who is responsible for these milestones and what resources will be needed at each point in the process.

Build, Acquire and Implement (BAI)

The BAI process helps to identify the organization's information and related technology needs, what those needs are, and how to meet them. This process includes identifying the current collection, storage, and use of information; identifying processes for collecting new information; designing and implementing a set of policies that guide users in their use of the IT systems; and establishing clear accountability for data protection.

Deliver, Service and Support (DSS)

The DSS section of COBIT establishes the core principles for information management. The principles are:

• Manage information in an effective, efficient manner that is appropriate for the needs and context of the organization
• Maintain and protect information assets as a key business resource
• Protect personal privacy and maintain individual control over personal data
• Provide relevant, trusted, secure, and appropriate use of information to deliver better customer service

COBIT's DSS principle ensures that organizations provide relevant and trusted services through information management. This is accomplished by ensuring that each piece of information used in providing new services is managed appropriately. For example, when an organization decides to start providing services online they must ensure that they have secured their hosting server properly so that users do not get infected with malware or their account gets hacked. Similarly, organizations must make sure they are using appropriate security protocols when they use cloud computing services. Additionally, organizations should also make sure they periodically back up data including email accounts, social network profiles and documents in case something goes wrong during an important process.

Monitor, Evaluate and Assess (MEA)

The MEA process includes the following components:

• Data collection
• Planning and controls
• Information systems management
• Measurement, Analysis and Reporting
• Security
• Risk management

Project Manager Takeaway

By understanding this process, its aims and the risks that it can reduce, a Project Manager can add additional value by applying Project Management best practices. This includes Risk Management and clear communications.

ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library)

ITIL is an IT service management framework that helps the CIO build a solid, repeatable process for managing IT services. The ITIL Service Lifecycle has 5 core modules: 

Service Strategy

Service Strategy aligns the services with an organization’s strategy and workflows. Once a solid strategy exists then the implementation becomes easier. This module also helps to identify gaps in the current service offerings so that new  services can be developed or existing ones expanded to meet customer requirements.

Service Design

Service design is the process of determining how to deliver services and what processes should be in place to achieve this. This module is often broken down into three different types: The first two are high-level views of service design, making the design process easier for you. The last one is a more specific view that focuses on designing for IT services. These all aim to improve customer experience and ensure customer satisfaction.

Service Transition

The Service Transition has two main objectives:

• Identify what information needs to be gathered from internal and external sources, and plan how this will be done.
• Plan how to transition existing IT services to a new or revised levels of service, for example by moving from a basic service level to a more advanced service level with increased features.

Service Operation

The Service Operation stage of ITIL is where the bulk of the work will take place. Its the stage that a Project Manager can add value. It’s the stage that executes and manages all the service processes, and it’s also what determines whether a process is successful or not. This means that it’s very important to have a plan in place for your operations team before you implement ITIL. This is also where you determine if your project will be successful or not, which means you need to have well thought-out plans on how to execute across different locations and across time zones, if applicable. Automation can be a key success factor here. Its worth ensuring the team are experienced here or have guides to help them when building infrastructure and applications. 

Continual Service Improvement

The ITIL Service Lifecycle is not a one-time project. As time goes on and the business grows, continuous improve of the service management practices will be required. There are many metrics to be considered in different parts of the lifecycle, from service levels to resource consumption. The ITIL Service Lifecycle helps the CIO identify which areas of service management have the highest risk of failure and sub projects often arise from this analysis. Metrics for continuous improvement can also identify ways to reduce costs, increase efficiency, and improve customer satisfaction.

The IT Service Lifecycle streamlines processes through standardization of best practices and reduction of operational costs by automating repetitive tasks and reducing internal redundancy. It also reduces risk by identifying common pitfalls in service management and eliminating them early on.

Project Manager Takeaway

By understanding this process, its aims and the risks that it can reduce, a Project Manager can add additional value by applying Project Management best practices. This includes Risk Management and clear communications.

Chief Marketing Officer

C.M.O.

The Chief Marketing Officer assists in the set up and management of marketing campaigns for a company. This role is responsible for deciding which marketing strategies are the best choice for a company, and ensuring that they are implemented effectively. In order to do this, the CMO generally uses logical frameworks and business tools such as business metrics, KPIs, analytics and more to measure success. In university or subsequent advanced specialist courses the CMO was most likely trained to see the world & marketplace by using the following management frameworks;

4 Ps of Marketing

In this classic approach to marketing, there are 4 points to consider.

• Product: The product is the tangible or intangible commodity that is being offered for sale. It needs to stand out by having a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) or feature.
• Price: The price of a product or service is the amount of money that a customer pays to acquire it.
• Placement: Placement refers to the process of determining where an advertisement should appear in order to meet marketing objectives. Its best to place ads and offers where your customers meet. Go to them rather then hope that they find you.
• Promotion: Promotion refers to any activity designed to generate interest in a product or service, including publicity, advertising and sales promotion.

Project Manager Takeaway

If you feel that your  project is failing in any of these areas, you could talk to the marketing CMO to gain further insight. Or for the project to be enhanced based on your observation.

First Mover Advantage

When a new company creates a new market, they create a First Mover Advantage for themselves. From this they could potentially benefit from creating a brand that is forever associated with that market. They can create a brand loyalty, where customers stick with them. They can capture all of the profiles while other companies take time to match their product and gain a foothold. Creating patents early can prevent others from entering that new market.

First Mover Advantage comes with some considerable risks. In new markets, the known strategies may not work and so the new company may waste a lot of money before they create the right product/market fit. They may have to spend loads of resources educating the public (eg: Tivo) while those companies can immediately benefit from it.

Project Manager Takeaway

Some projects are highly pressurized environments. Understanding the First Mover Advantage gained by a company can allow a Project Manager to understand the secrecy and swiftness that may be involved in a project.

Segmentation

Segmentation is the process of dividing a target market (people you want to buy your products or services) into smaller subgroups. This is done either by dividing the market by demographics (e.g. age, gender, income) or by dividing the market by life-cycle stage (e.g. parents with preschoolers, college students), so you can identify which consumers are looking for a particular product. Marketers use the practice of segmentation in order to identify those who may be interested in a product or service.

Segmenting your target audience involves identifying the people who are currently interested in and buying a product/service you offer so that your marketing efforts will reach them most effectively. There is no one way to segment your target audience—the best way is to develop a profile of who will buy your product or service and what factors are important to them.

Developing a profile for your target audience:

• Identify the people who are interested in and buying what you offer so that you don’t waste time marketing to the wrong segment.
• Identify the various segments of your target audience and determine which attributes each segment possesses.
• Identifying the various segments of your target audience:
  • B2B - Business to business, includes all professional types that are buying for their companies.
  • SMB - Small business, from small-to-medium size businesses that are mostly concerned with personal and internal matters as opposed to external activities.

Project Manager Takeaway

By understanding the segmentation, Project Managers can better understand the business concepts which more accurately targets potential customers and generates revenue for the business.

RACE Framework

There are four successive phases in the RACE framework for Digital Marketing growth. It is either represented as the layers of a funnel or as a flow diagram.

• Reach - Reach out to a new audience and make them aware of the brand/product/company. Do this through social media and events.
• Act - Initiate and encourage interactions with the audience to increase brand awareness.
• Convert - Convert the audience into buyers for online & offline sales.
• Engagement - Keep the buyers engaged to encourage repeat business and positive 'word of mouth' feedback to encourage more future sales.

Project Manager Takeaway

A Project Manager can add value to the RACE framework by being involved early and assisting or driving planning prior to the RACE framework being in place. 

Marketing Funnel

The Marketing Funnel is a visualization of the process of moving potential customers from the first awareness of a product or service to eventual purchase and continued use.

The Marketing Funnel typically begins with a large number of people in the top of the funnel.

The narrowing funnel represents a reduction in the number of potential customers as they progress towards the bottom where customers are converted into paying customers.

A Marketing Funnel is know as a metaphor for the conversion process that occurs as potential customers move through a sales technique. The conversion process can be illustrated with the following image as customers move from bottom to top of the funnel.

Project Manager Takeaway

This Marketing funnel can be applied to anything from the pages in a website to the hiring process of team members. In this way the Marketing Funnel is useful for Project Managers.

AIDA Model

The AIDA model is a marketing communication model based on four main areas of influence on consumers. These are Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action.

Attention: The first stage in the AIDA model is to gain the attention of the target audience. This can be achieved in a number of ways including: - Advertising - Public Relations - Sales Promotion.

Interest: After an audience has been attracted, the goal is to entice them to listen to the message.- Preaching the 'lessons' of a product- Demonstrating how the product can help others

Desire: Once audience members have developed an interest in a product, it is then necessary to fulfill their desires and needs with it. This involves developing a message that reflects their needs and desires so they will be more ready to purchase.

Action: After a product has been brought to the attention of a consumer and they have developed an interest in it, the goal is to encourage them to take action towards buying or using the product. This can be achieved through encouraging purchase by either providing personalized content, providing special offers, or encouraging the potential shopper to take action towards buying the product by letting them know that your product or service is the best or contains unique features worth investing in.

Project Manager Takeaway

Project Managers can use this method to write interesting and compelling communications. Everything from report to emails to can written in this attention grabbing style.

Chief Product Officer

C.P.O.

To be an effective Chief Product Officer, you need to have a comprehensive understanding of different logical frameworks, the latest business tools and the most important skills to develop. In university or subsequent advanced specialist courses the CPO was most likely trained to see the world & marketplace by using the following management frameworks;

Kano Model

The Kano Analysis model graphs the impact of customer satisfaction for products and features. It is also called the 'Customer Delight vs. Implementation Investment' approach. 

The Kano model is a quadrant graph mapping the satisfaction or dissatisfaction against the investment undertaken.

Project Manager Takeaway

This is a useful graph to use to accept or reject change requests and scope creep. 

Double Diamond

The double diamond model is a product management strategy containing four stages; discovery, definition, development, and delivery. Discovery. In the discovery stage, teams identify a problem or opportunity.

Definition. The definition stage is where the product and user requirements are formalized. It is where the problem from the Discovery phase is focused on with a view to being addressed by the Product. 

Development. The development stage is where the functionality of the product and design are refined, with an emphasis on communicating to stakeholders and end users how it will work.

Delivery. The delivery stage is where implementation of the product begins, with a focus on developing a solution that solves the problem. 

Project Manager Takeaway

The Project Manager will be involved in the Delivery Phase of this framework. If changes are made later in the delivery stage, the Project Manager can always refer back to the initial stages to confirm that the Scope creep addresses the original problem.

GIST Model

This GIST model is a lightweight framework that is easy to understand and implement. It contains four parts that are tackled in the following order;

Goals. Measurable high level objectives that the product should meet. Ideas. A variety of potential ways to achieve the goals . These usually arise from brainstorming sessions. Step-Projects. These are mini projects that last no longer than 10 weeks and product the MVP at the end. Tasks. These are the project features of the step projects.

Project Manager Takeaway

This exciting and iterative  set of projects benefits from clear communication and stakeholder engagement from the project manager.

Amazon Method

Write the Press Release first. Use it to work backwards to determine ;

• The Product name.
• What the product does.
• Why its so great.
• What problem the product solves. 
• Who the target audience is.
• A call to action that the reader must now take to avail of this product or service.

This is like running a pre-mortem for a product in order to find out the key purpose of the product and true nature of its being. 

Project Manager Takeaway

A Project Manager can point to this press release to deflect Scope Creep. 

Kano Model

The Ansoff Growth Strategy matrix allows for four approaches to grow a business, depending on the product or service that you offer & the market that you are potentially to engage in. The options are listed below in order of Least Risky to Most Risky.

• Market Penetration [Existing Markets, Existing Products]

  • Focus on marketing or pricing strategies to gain more market share in your existing market

• Market development [New Markets, Existing Products]

  • Add features or use your product as a repurposed substitute to an existing product within a new market

• Product Development [Existing Markets, New Products]

  • Add an additional product into your existing market. This risks cannibalizing your market.

• Diversification [New Markets, New Products]

  • Add a new product into a new market that you may not yet fully understand.

Project Manager Takeaway

Placing your project within the Ansoff  Matrix will give you greater insight into the underlying motivation and business drivers for your project. It also aligns your project to a risk profile.  Use this information as part of your Stakeholder Analysis in order to determine the strategic intent behind the project and the stakeholder motivation. In turn, this will allow the PM to both speak the same language of the stakeholder, while also potentially providing insights & potential improvements that someone outside the project may have missed.

5 Cs of Pricing

There are many variations on the 5 Cs of Pricing. This is just one that your CPO will think in terms of;

• Cost - how much does it cost to produce the product?
• Competition - how does the company compare to its competitors?
• Consumer perception - what do consumers think about the product?
• Convenience - is it easy for the consumer to purchase this product?
• Cost of similar products in market place.

Project Manager Takeaway

Picking the correct Price Point can make or break a Product and even a company. Therefore its likely that this will be discussed a lot between the CEO, CPO, CMO & CFO. Input will be required from the CTO & COO. You can provide input too by accurately estimating  the Return on Investment of the features requested.

Product Life Cycle

A Product Life Cycle is the typical progression of a product's sales, from introduction, to growth, maturity, and finally decline.

Project Manager Takeaway

If your project relates to a Product then determine where it is situated within the Product Life Cycle to determine the likely Return on Investment (ROI) for Change Requests and minor defects.

Technology Adoption Life Cycle

The Technology Adoption Life Cycle (TALC) is a model that illustrates the process by which new technologies are accepted, adapted and implemented. The model illustrates how people go through a series of phases over time as they adopt new technologies.

First the new technology is considered novel and will only interest a few people who are early adopters of new technology.

Then, as more people hear about the new technology, more people will become aware of it and more people will adopt the technology.

Finally a large number of people will adopt the technology and it will be common practice.

Project Manager Takeaway

If your project relates to a Product then determine where it is situated within the Technology Adoption Life Cycle to determine the likely Return on Investment (ROI) for Change Requests and minor defects.

AARRR

The CMO and the Product Managers are likely to think in terms of AARRR. This is especially true in a SAAS (Software As A Service) business. AARRR is a growth funnel that stands for:

• Acquisition. This first step ensures that the product/service is placed in front of the potential customer.
• Activation. Create the AHA moment where the viewer understands & likes what they see and becomes a user.
• Retention. Make the service sticky, so that the user will want to return multiple times, rather than leaving forever & creating 'churn'.
• Referral. Create an offering so good that the user will talk to their friends about it. Determine how they can become an evangelist for the product. Net Promoter Scores (NPS) are helpful here.
• Revenue. Create an offering so attractive that the users will want to pay for it.

Project Manager Takeaway

It can be useful for you to think how your project is delivering AARRR, at the various stages. 

Chief Technical Officer

C.T.O.

A Chief Technical Officer (CTO) is responsible for the strategic direction of an organization, who builds and delivers technology that drives the business. The CTO is accountable for long-term technology strategy, management and development. It's important to understand the various frameworks in order to provide the proper leadership for any business. In university or subsequent advanced specialist courses the CTO was most likely trained to see the world & marketplace by using the following management frameworks;

Rubber Ducking

The career path for many a CTO is from a software engineer. As such, they are well used to teasing out complex problems. One of the quickest ways of doing this is to ask questions about the problem and drill down into the issue. 

The phrase Rubber Ducking got its name from a practice where it was advised to explain code to a rubber duck, if another developer wasn't available to peer review.  It was found that the very practice of explaining the problem or asking the questions led to the person answering their own question. It is best practice to observe the problem or practice and to verbally state exactly what is expected to happen.  If you notice that what is actually happening is not exactly as described then you have found a problem.

In the book 'Turn The Ship Around' by L. David Marquet, he echos Thinking Out Loud and Acting with Deliberate Intent, as a way to make clear and conscious decisions.

Project Manager Takeaway

Project Managers can benefit from this practice when they encounter problems of their own, or when their team members face problems.  As the team member to walk through the issue with either you, or a rubber duck (or similar inanimate object).

5 Whys

The 5 Whys approach is a problem-solving technique that helps you to find the root cause of an issue by asking "why" five times. While this is not uniquely used by the CTO, technology has become so complex that this area of the business seems to use it the most. 

Here is an example of how this technique can be used:

1) Why was the call center so busy today?

Customers claimed that the site was not available.

2) Why was the site not available?

The software was not responding.

3) Why was the software not responding?

The database was not responding.

4) Why was the database not responding?

The cloud provider was down.

5) Why was the cloud provider down?

They experiences problems with their infrastructure.

From here, we could look at building in resilience for the services, alternative fall-back procedures, redirection, proactive alerting etc. 

Project Manager Takeaway

Project Managers should also use the 5 Whys in order to get to the root of the problem rather than repeatedly dealing with the symptoms. 

Data Protection Officer

D.P.O.

The Data Protection Officer is a new role in the world of data management, but it is an essential one for any company. This person ensures that the company's data is protected, and oversees privacy policies. He or she will also be responsible for training employees on how to handle sensitive information. In university or subsequent advanced specialist courses the DPO was most likely trained to see the world & organization by using the following management frameworks;

Data Protection Officer

D.P.O.

The Data Protection Officer is a new role in the world of data management, but it is an essential one for any company. This person ensures that the company's data is protected, and oversees privacy policies. He or she will also be responsible for training employees on how to handle sensitive information. In university or subsequent advanced specialist courses the DPO was most likely trained to see the world & organization by using the following management frameworks;

Data Protection around the world

For the most part, all of the Data Protection policies worldwide are complimentary and standard. This is a good thing, as it allows a company to do business worldwide without having to worry about the legal ramifications of not being compliant.  

There are many legislation worldwide that the DPO will be aware of;

• General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) [European Union]
• Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) [Canada]
• Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) [some United States states] along with others such as FERPA, COPPA and specific states such as CCPA, CPRA, ColoPA etc.
• General Data Protection Law (LGPD) [Brazil]
• Data Security Regulations [Israel]
• Law No. 13 [Qatar]
• Law on Protection of Personal Data No. 6698 [Turkey]
• Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection [African Union] 
• Protection of Personal Information (POPI) Act [South Africa]
• Act on the Protection of Personal Information (APPI) [Japan]
• Personal Data Protection Bill (PDBP) [India]
• Privacy Act [New Zealand]
• Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) [South Korea]

Project Manager Takeaway

By knowing which laws may govern your project/product in the target market and by ensuring that your project is in line with local legislation, a Project Manager can greatly assist a DPO.

Data Protection policies and legislation

All companies must be legally compliant with the data protection policy of the country in which they do business.

Under legislation, such as GDPR (Europe), HIPPA (United States), IPPEDA (Canada), POPI (South Africa), etc. personal information is protected. 

Personal data is defined as “any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person”. It can be anything from name to address, basically any identifying information.

Sensitive personal information includes information about political opinions, religious beliefs, health (including genetic makeup), race or ethnicity, sexual orientation, and more. This type of personal data requires stricter rules for use by the company and must be protected in accordance with the GDPR. The downside is that this type of sensitive personal information is likely to add complexity to your current business operations.

Personal information can be processed in two ways: Data Controllers and Data Processors.

The difference between Data Controllers and Data Processors

Data controllers are companies responsible for configuring and maintaining systems, databases, or other tools that collect personal information on behalf of their customers. This includes any entity that collects personally identifiable information through registration forms on websites, application installation downloads, or otherwise.

Data processors are companies that act on behalf of a data controller (for example, companies such as Google, which can only process data if they have an agreement with the controller).

There are also some specific rules for data processors:

• They must follow all the instructions of their controller
• They must not process personal data without a legal basis.
• They must take technical and organizational measures to protect personal data from accidents or to protect them against illegal acts destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorized disclosure of access or misuse.

Each company must appoint a Data Protection Officer (DPO) and establish data protection procedures, policies and processes. The DPO should also assign responsibility for executing the process and managing the risks associated with data processing activities. The DPO should analyze regulatory developments, monitor compliance with data protection obligations and conduct audits when necessary. It is important to note here that this position should be filled by an employee who has the necessary skills to assume those responsibilities; ideally someone who understands both global data protection laws and data processing activities from an IT perspective. A data protection officer (DPO) must have authority over all areas of information technology functions within an organization or organization, including but not limited to:

• Managing security risks.
• Establishing appropriate security measures for the processing of personal data.
• Identifying needs for third party service providers.

Project Managers can assist DPO by ensuring that their project is compliant with data processing legislation. This is a bigger task than it sounds and the DPO will appreciate the assistance. Flagging any user personal details, credit cards, addresses etc. appear in log files, for example. Also implementing Privacy By Design practices in Software Development, as well as generating documentation, will all help.

Chief Operations Officer

C.O.O.

The Chief Operations Officer (COO) is responsible for overseeing the operational aspects of a company. They do this through a variety of tools and frameworks, such as forecasting, project management, and logistics. In university or subsequent advanced specialist courses the COO was most likely trained to see the world & organization by using the following management frameworks;

Data Protection Officer

D.P.O.

The Data Protection Officer is a new role in the world of data management, but it is an essential one for any company. This person ensures that the company's data is protected, and oversees privacy policies. He or she will also be responsible for training employees on how to handle sensitive information. In university or subsequent advanced specialist courses the DPO was most likely trained to see the world & organization by using the following management frameworks;

Kotters Change Management

Change Management is Change with a big C. It is not the minor Change Requests that are applied to a project, but typically a radical shift in thinking and processes, such as changing a cultural aspect of an organization. Imagine that the company’s culture is concrete. Initially, the concrete is very easy to influence and shape. Over time it hardens and sets. Changing the shape now is almost impossible, if approached incorrectly. As such, it said that 70% of changes fail. There are multiple Change Management techniques but Kotters 8 step process is one of the most effective and popular. The process is as follows;

• Establish a sense of urgency. Clearly identify the threat and impact. (Smash the concrete)

• Form essential coalitions. Undertake a stakeholder analysis, determine the sources of power and influence, make them your change agents.

• Develop a vision for change. Link the change to the vision. Should this be top down or bottom up or both?

• Communicate that vision. Clearly & repeatedly.

• Remove obstacles. Remove anything that undermines the change required. This could even mean helping people through the Five Stages of Grief that they may be feeling in relation to the change.

• Generate short term wins. Set achievable milestones and celebrate when they are met.

• Build on wins. Use an S curve approach jump from success milestone to milestone.

• Embed the change in the organizational culture. Close off the change process.

Project Manager Takeaway

As a project manager you can add real benefit by analyzing points 4 - 6. You can anticipate and build positive and mitigation strategies them before they become issues.

Systems Thinking

“No man is an island” and everything is interconnected. Each person or process has some effect on another. Linear thinking says that if you do A to B then the result will be C. However, that is only the tip of the iceberg. Systems Thinking highlights a bigger picture and shows that by doing A to B, you may also influence D and E and the result will be F. There are (first order, second order...) consequences to our actions. Everything is interrelated in some way. For example if you were building a high quality Product (B) and this Product is in high demand, then you would increase production (A). However this may cause a decrease in quality output (D) while having an increase in team burnout (E) that could lead to lower sales (F) overall.

You get the most out of Systems Thinking by observing patterns of data over time. These patterns are build upon system structures (either documented or undocumented processes) which are initially put in place based on mental models of how someone sees the world.

In Systems Thinking, the analyst seeks to identify the Feedback Loops & Causal Loops that influence. When creating Systems Thinking diagrams, start small and general and build it out from there. Systems Thinking diagrams are a single or set of circular interconnected events that positively or negatively impact each other.

Project Manager Takeaway

Project Managers who understand System Thinking can view an organization and its processes in a different light. They can actively seek out the levels that can effect change and consider the second order consequences in advance of them negatively impacting the project. 

Bartlett and Ghoshal’s Matrix

The matrix is a framework that was developed by two professors and it is used to measure the effectiveness of an organization. The four categories that are used to measure the effectiveness of an organization are:

• Structure: The way in which the company is managed and organized.
• Strategy: The overall direction of the company’s activities, including its objectives and goals.
• Systems: The policies, procedures, processes, and structures that govern how work gets done in the company.
• Culture: The way people behave, feel, think and act in relation to their work environment or the organization as a whole.

Project Manager Takeaway

By understanding the company structure, a Project Manager can better navigate it. By following up with a Stakeholder Analysis, you will be able to better understand the power and influence at play.

McKinsey 7S Model

The McKinsey 7S model is a framework for analyzing a company’s organizational structure.

The 7S model is a framework to analyze the organization's structure. It was originally developed by McKinsey and Company, a global management consulting firm. The model has been used by many corporations and organizations to improve their effectiveness.

The seven components of the McKinsey 7S model are: Strategy, Structure, Systems, Style, Staffing, Shared Values, and Skills. The model is particularly relevant to business strategy.

• Strategy: What are your goals? Who are you trying to serve?
• Structure: How will you get there?
• Systems: How do you measure success?
• Style: How will people experience this work environment?
• Staffing: Who will be on your team and what skills
• Shared Values: Are the teams values aligned with the company's values?
• Skills: Do we have the necessary skills?

Project Manager Takeaway

By understanding the company structure, a Project Manager can better navigate it. By following up with a Stakeholder Analysis, you will be able to better understand the power and influence at play.

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