Note to non French speaking readers. This is all about initiative management, including project and change management. Most of the times, I've posted the corresponding message in English right after each French message. You may also refer to the index page in English to access a given message directly--messages written in English.

As of 2015, Feb. 12: I'm improving the English version with a native English speaker. Work in progress. 

La roue de Deming appliquée à un projet. Un projet donné contribue à atteindre un objectif en tant que partie d'un tout. En effet, avant tout projet, il y a une initiative du genre "Nous voulons obtenir tel résultat". Lorsque l'initiative aura mûri, elle s'exprimera ainsi : "Nous voulons obtenir tel résultat EN lançant tel projet". Et puis, une fois le projet terminé, les opérations commencent et, afin de soutenir le changement introduit par le projet, on doit mener une opération de renforcement.

Deming's Plan Do Check Act applied to project. A given project contributes to reaching a given goal as part of a bigger picture : before any projet, there is an initiative like "We should get that result". As the initiative evolves, you have "We shall get that result BY doing this project". Moreover, once the project close, operations start and some reinforcement is required to sustain the change the project has brought in.

 --- en français ---

Dans ce blog, vous trouverez :

a- Un credo, ce que je crois et dont le reste découle (depuis Mac Gregor, on soupçonne que des croyances sont auto-réalisantes). http://initiative101.canalblog.com/pages/mon-credo--francais-/28904741.html

b- Quatre thèmes avec questionnements et exercices pratiques :

1. Quelle est ma place dans mon milieu ? Quels rôles ceux qui m'entourent jouent-ils ? Que signifient les relations entre acteurs ? Qu'est-ce qui explique que le système, bien qu'imparfait, perdure et soit stable ? Y a-t-il un pilote dans l'avion ? C'est l'objet de la section Environnement et des exercices qui s'y rattachent.

2. Une initiative, ça sert à quoi ? Qui cela concerne-t-il ? Pourquoi la lancerait-on ? Pourquoi cette initiative plutôt qu'une autre ? Quel impact aura-t-elle ? Alors, finalement, on la lance ? Voyez la section Initiative et ses messages. Pour une fiche résumé directement utilisable en situation : Initiative_GROW_ADKAR_Mod_leFR_v2

3. Qu'est-ce qu'il faut faire, au (plus) juste ? (Conception). Nous produisons, certes, mais comment produisons-nous ce que nous sommes en train de produire (how good, fast and cheap) ? (développement). Comment s'assurer que ça marche, sur le terrain ? (déploiement). Jusqu'à quand fait-on l'effort ? Comment s'assurer qu'on évitera ces ornières la fois prochaine ? (clôture). La section Projet répondra avec exercices et outils.

4. Comment transformer ses expériences en expérience ? Untel et moi nous sommes emportés l'un contre l'autre : comment travailler avec lui/elle dès demain ? Comment se sortir d'un conflit ? Comment aboutir à un accord dans une confrontation ? La section Leadership nous aidera à convertir nos expériences en expérience.

c- Une bibliographie. Lire, c'est affûter ses outils. Voir la page dédiée à la bibliographie.

     --- in English ---

In that blog, you'll find:

a- a credo, what I believe and the consequences of it (from Mac Gregor , we suspect that beliefs are self-fulfilling). http://initiative101.canalblog.com/pages/my-credo--american-english-/28904790.html

b-Four themes with questions and practical exercises:

1 . What is my place in my community? What roles do my neighbors play? What do the relationships between actors account for? What does explain that the system, although imperfect, continues to be stable? Is there a pilot on the plane? This is the purpose of the Environment section and exercises related to it.

2 . Initiative, what is it? Who should I consider as stakeholders? Why should we launch the initiative? Why this initiative rather than another? What impact will it have? So, do we finally launch it? See the section Initiative and its messages. Here is a useful template you may use right now: Initiative_GROW_ADKAR_v0

3 . What should we do, at the fairest? (Design) . We produce, of course, but how are we producing our deliverables (how good , fast and cheap)? (development) . How to ensure that it works on the field ? (deployment) . How to know when to stop working on it? How to make sure we avoid the same pitfalls next time? (closure). Look at the Project section with exercises and tools.

4 . How to turn our experiments into experience? John Doe and I got angry against each other: how can I work with them tomorrow? How can I manage and solve a conflict? How can we reach an agreement together in a confrontation? The Leadership section will help.

c- A bibliography. Reading is about sharpening our saw.

Depuis mars 2013, je rencontre des protagonistes de la qualité en PME, des responsables qualité en tant que tels mais aussi toute personne qui a affaire à la qualité de près ou de loin. Je leur pose ces trois questions :

1. Qu'est-ce que vous faites ?
2. Qu'est-ce qui est difficile ?
3. Avec qui travaillez-vous ?

Impressionné par la richesse de leurs témoignages, j'ai réfléchi à la façon d'organiser ce que j'écoute afin de le leur soumettre pour validation. Pierre-Guy DUNY, collègue de Chalon sur Saône - collègue au sens de l'intérêt pour le management de projet, non au sens de l'entreprise -, m'a fait connaître la notion de juste nécessaire et l'approche correspondante, la méthode APTE. Laquelle propose un formalisme pour l'analyse fonctionnelle. Je l'ai adopté et voilà ce que ça donne : FonctionQualit__CahierDesChargesFonctionnel sous forme d'un fichier PowerPoint Mac 2008 - veillez à visualiser les commentaires.

Je poursuis ma rechercher et mes rencontres et je confie mes notes chaque fois renouvelées à votre sagace critique : n'hésitez pas à partager vos réflexions en utilisant les fonctionnalités disponibles.

A prepared negotiation is a successful negotiation . Do your homework !

A month before returning to France , a given Monday, I put my Chevrolet Impala for sale on Craiglist. I want $ 5,000. I want to sell before flying back to France, I have assured maintenance with jealous care and a few hundred dollars (I act as a good father and I doing well). If I sell it within a week, I have to rent a car for our three week trip to Yellowstone (a 4,000 mile journey, approx. 6,000 km).

Someone calls, whose intention I soon discover: he wants a car like my Impala in this kind of shape in this kind of price for his daughter who commutes to the capital (a 1 hour drive) for work every day . An urgent purchase. He wants the car next Saturday, imperative. Appointment is made for tomorrow night , Tuesday.

I start preparing my negotiation. First, what are my best alternatives? What if I find myself at the foot of the plane with my Impala? Looking for some agent who could deal with a case similar to mine, soon I find one who, for $ 500, takes responsibility for selling my car—and says « anyway, anyone buys a Chevrolet Impala, she's gone within two weeks ». Conclusion: at worst, I'm going to Yellowstone with our Impala and I let the friendly shopkeeper take care of selling it, I certainly will lose his commission but I gain the cost of a rental car for 3 weeks.

And what are the alternatives, in my prospector’s point of view? Buy another car of the same kind in a radius of 50 miles. Is there any? I reconnect to Craiglist, this time as a buyer and find no similar car for sale in said radius. Conclusion : if my prospector confirms it’s imperative on Saturday, negotiation is poorly fitted for him, for his daughter: it's my car or nothing.

On Tuesday evening, my prospect comes along, becomes aware of the car, walks around, tries it, comes back and confirms his interest. I explain him my good father’s management and produce maintenance bills. Does he need it on Saturday? Yes, certainly. That said, he offers me $ 3,500. I reply: OK, in four weeks, when we return from our trip to Yellowstone. Uh, it does not help me! Well, why not $ 4900? I will have filled the tank on Friday and you take possession on Saturday. So be it.

Assumption. A prepared negotiation takes time, it is a long-lead item you’d better order before you need it. No alternative, no negotiation .

Tool. Negotiation.

Prepare a negotiation is to embark on a discovery of others and myself :

• What are my goals? What are theirs?
• What are my values? What are theirs?
• What are my constraints ? What are theirs?
• What are my thresholds ? What are theirs?
• What is my best alternative? What is theirs?

Warnings.

When one of the negotiating partners realizes that his vis- à-vis lacks alternative , negotiation stops .

Preparing a negotiation takes time. It is therefore wise to start before you need it. This is one of the goals of the stakeholder analysis: what are their overall objectives, what are their values, what constraints do they have?

Experimentation. Prepare for future negotiations; experiment negotiation and debrief with a trusted person, be yourself trustworthy person to a colleague.

References. Bargaining.

Stakeholder responsibility. Trustworthy person.

Voir comment préparer une négociation sur le nouveau site projet-initiative101.com.

Parties prenantes - responsabilité. Partenaire de négociation (pas nécessairement adversaire, donc.)

Voir "Comment réussir une initiative" sur le nouveau site projet-initiative101.com.