August 13, 2024 • 40 mins
In this episode of the Everyday Business Problems podcast, I joined Dave Crysler to share my insights on process improvement and efficiency from the perspective of a project manager.
The conversation covers the integration of project management in both internal and external process improvements, navigating roadblocks in large organizations, and the importance of effective communication. We also discussed my approach to prioritizing opportunities and achieving quick wins to build momentum for continuous improvement.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dave Crysler (00:01):
Hello and welcome to the Everyday Business
Problems podcast.
I'm your host, Dave Crysler.
Each episode we talk tobusiness leaders and subject
matter experts to learn aboutthe challenges they've overcome
and the challenges they stillface.
You'll hear fresh insights,real talk and get inspiration to
grow your business.
(00:22):
Hey, everybody so excited to bewelcoming Walt Sparling to the
podcast.
Today.
Walt is with Pia Mastery, whichis a tremendous resource center
for project managementprofessionals.
That includes a blog, podcastand a mastermind group as well.
Walt is a project managementprofessional and promoter of
(00:45):
project managers and theircareer.
Walt, thanks so much for comingon the Everyday Business
Problems podcast.
Thanks for having me.
I appreciate it.
Yeah, I'm excited to get intothis conversation with you,
talking all about processimprovement and efficiency.
Kind of you know, from yourperspective as a project manager
, how that you know comes intoplay and how you are able to not
(01:09):
only identify you know areasfor opportunity, but kind of
what your process is like in andaround getting people on board
with this, presenting thosechanges to leadership, and kind
of you know the projectmanagement professional
viewpoint on all of that.
So I know you do quite a bit ofwork in the construction and
real estate spaces, whichobviously has some you know kind
(01:34):
of specifics and caveats.
So I'd love to just get a briefoverview of you know kind of
your perspective and how projectmanagement fits into the role
of process improvement.
Walt Sparling (01:47):
All right.
So yes, I work for a large realestate company.
Actually, I have my work shirton.
At the moment we deal withwe're a professional project
management firm in all aspectsof real estate leasing,
purchasing, managing, et ceteraand what my role is with the PDS
group project developmentservices we manage projects and
(02:10):
we have different.
We have markets group that justmanages, for anyone can call
them up and hire them, or someare dedicated accounts.
So I am on a dedicated account.
I have a team in Florida and wehandle all of the sites for our
client in the Florida regionand that could be anywhere from
adding a card reader to afacility to do an interior
(02:32):
renovation or even ground upbuildings.
So it's a lot of work, it's alot of territory and anytime we
can do something that's going tosave us time and energy and
frustration is where the youknow process improvements and
efficiencies come in yeah, Ilove that and I would imagine
(02:54):
that you guys are, are you knowit's really twofold right.
Dave Crysler (02:57):
You're looking at probably internal process
improvement opportunities aswell as external things that are
client facing, things that youguys identify from your
experience in having to dealwith the project management
aspect.
Walt Sparling (03:12):
You're exactly right, and that's the problem.
So our company is huge, they'reinternational, we have, I think
, right around 98,000 employees,so it's a decent size.
And then our client is also alarge company and they have like
50,000 employees.
So it's a decent size.
And then our client is also alarge company and, you know,
they have like 50,000 employees.
So everyone, or each side, hastheir own processes in place and
(03:33):
we have to figure out.
You know, some of them arerequired.
It's like we're not going to,we're not going to budge on this
, you have to do this.
And then our company is likewell, we're not going to budge
on this, you have to do that.
So we got to double up on ourtasks and process and it's like
okay, how do we make this easier?
Dave Crysler (03:50):
Yeah, I love that.
How do you guys navigate someof those kind of roadblocks that
are inherent in two kind ofGoliath companies coming
together to ultimately do worktogether right?
But how do you guys navigatesome of that give and take when
it comes to specific to processVery carefully?
Walt Sparling (04:12):
We have it's so many tiers.
So we have our company, like Isaid, is a large company.
They're project managementfocused and they have processes
that are at the corporate level.
They have a corporate PMO andthey go okay, these are the
things that we require of ourproject managers.
Then we have a local weactually called a COE, used to
(04:36):
be a PMO, but center ofexcellence for our account and
they try to bridge the gapbetween corporate requirements
and account requirements to atleast get us meeting.
You know what are the onescorporate that we could really
really don't have to do, or ifwe did them, they can be done a
little bit different, becausewe're going to die on all these
(04:57):
processes.
And then they do the same thing.
They interface with our client.
You go okay, we know you have alot of processes as well, but
which ones are you willing tocompromise or, uh, maybe drop?
And that's a big battle we haveall the time with.
(05:36):
How do we not do things twice?
Yeah, it makes sense.
Before I came here, I was an ITconsultant for a while, so I've
done some programming, I've donesome document management, I've
helped firms set up theirsystems and out of that I
learned a lot.
I learned what people like todo and what people don't like to
do and what kind of things savethem time.
(05:59):
So as I've gone to each companyI've worked at, I've always
settled in for a little bit,listened, watched and then said
you guys, there are some thingsyou could do that would make
this process go faster, or wecould automate it, streamline it
.
Are you open to that?
And usually they're like yeah,we don't know.
(06:19):
This is just how we've alwaysdone it.
Dave Crysler (06:21):
That's the way we've always done it.
Walt Sparling (06:23):
It's like, okay, well, I got some ideas and I
would always revamp their ITsystem and their document
management and even in somecases, because of my background
design processes, I used to do alot of AutoCAD customization
for people in the world that useAutoCAD.
I actually had a blog on thatwhere I would write custom
(06:44):
scripts and then show people howto create certain tools.
So that's always been kind ofmy side thing, what some people
refer to as like my littlesuperpower outside of my normal
job, and so I'm alwaysinterested in learning things
about that and sharing what Iknow when people ask.
Dave Crysler (07:06):
Yeah, I love that.
I mean, I think anybody that'skind of in and around process
improvement and whether it'stheir superpower or they're just
interested, it really has to bedriven from kind of that
curiosity standpoint andcontinuing to ask people
questions.
And you know, why are we doingit this way?
Well, it's the way we've alwaysdone.
(07:26):
We always love that particularline, favorite line.
Yeah, how do you find the kindof communication flow ends up
happening?
Because I feel like that'smaybe a sticking point for a lot
of people that are, you know,potentially recognizing some
opportunities for improvementFrom your standpoint.
You know, what are some of theways to kind of prompt some good
(07:48):
conversations around that?
Is it really just about askingyou know better questions, or
what have you found in yourexperience?
Walt Sparling (07:54):
Well, first off, know your audience because
depending who you're talking to,it's going to be a different
conversation, you know, formaybe the end user it's going to
be how can you get this donefaster?
Or how can you have to do lesssteps, which it could be faster,
but it could just be less of ahassle.
But if you're talking tomanagement, then you got to talk
(08:17):
okay, what's ROI and how isthis going to benefit us?
And when you do this, you'renot going to be doing your
normal job going to benefit us,and when you do this, you're not
going to be doing your normaljob.
So it's, it's figuring out whoyou're talking to and then have
a game plan.
Don't just walk in, oh, I havethis idea and they go.
(08:39):
No, and I've had.
I was with a large engineeringfirm and I worked directly for
the owner.
He was my manager, I was the ITand CAD manager there and I was
looking at all their systems.
They had like 75 people.
I said you guys could reallybenefit from an intranet.
And this was back before.
Intranets were cool and some ofthe big companies had them and
I said but it's really not thatcomplicated to set up, we could
set up.
(08:59):
I was doing web stuff at thetime so I started to see some of
the value in it.
I'm like, yeah, we could createan intranet.
And they're like, no, that'sfor big companies, not
interested, Go do your other job.
Dave Crysler (09:08):
And I wouldn't let it go.
Walt Sparling (09:10):
So I talked to some of the users and users and
there was a lot of them and toldthem some of the things that
would be cool if we had anintranet.
And they're like, yeah, thatwould be cool.
This is so archaic the way wedo things.
So I just created like a littlemini hidden intranet and shared
it with certain people thedesign group and the CAD guys.
So they had standards, theyneed to look up stuff.
(09:32):
They had to go get a binder andlook up stuff.
Now they just popped up a pageand went to it.
I go, okay, that's it, and Ilet that go, you know, kind of
undercover, for months.
And then they started askingfor more.
Oh, can we do this, can we dothat?
And then when I got up to myboss, I thought we talked about
this, we don't need this.
(09:54):
And I said, well, yeah, buttalk to the users.
And it was like, wow, this isactually speeding people up,
it's getting communicationbetter.
Now there's no excuses ofdidn't know where the binder was
or who had it or whatever it's.
Everything was right there onthe screen.
So now their homepage when theystarted up the computer was the
(10:16):
intranet homepage.
And then we got.
I got fun with it.
I started putting Easter eggsout on the on the site and
people would try to find themand then, yay, we got it.
So it became a fun thing andeverybody got on there because
there was value in it in theirjobs and that management
(10:36):
eventually bought in.
But so you got to.
I can't say you do that onevery time, because sometimes
you got to come up with a planand say, okay, this is why you
need an intranet or this is whyyou need to change this process.
And when it's with managers,you've got to tell them this is
going to save man hours, it'sgoing to get the product out the
(10:56):
door faster, it's going tocreate less errors, those things
they can get behind.
The users are like how do I getthis done faster or less steps?
Dave Crysler (11:07):
So it's a different conversation much more
trouble than it's worth to takethat approach.
But you know it's and I loveyour example there because you
(11:28):
know when people, especially inleadership, can recognize those
benefits and whether it'sbecause you've built out the use
case or you've got some data toback.
You know kind of your, yourhypothesis on something.
You know it's.
It is a different conversation.
It's a different conversationthat you have to have with that
leadership group.
Sometimes it's, you know it's a, it's an owner, sometimes it's
(11:50):
a you know middle managementlayer.
But you've got to understand whoit is you're chatting with, how
to have that conversation.
That's great insights to to addinto it.
So what do you, what would yousay?
You know, in terms of kind ofthe, the, the project management
role, as we look at rollingsome of the process improvements
(12:10):
out, how do you feel like, uh,kind of your designation as a,
as a PMP, as a projectmanagement professional and, in
some of the larger organizations, how do you feel that that kind
of role fits into the overallcourse of, you know, process
improvement, kind of thatdevelopment piece from you know,
recognizing the things thatneed to be improved and
(12:33):
ultimately rolling out throughthe implementation, because you
know you have your hands in alot of different aspects,
obviously as a project manager.
So how do you kind of navigatethat and what do you find is
your role within that?
Walt Sparling (12:49):
Oh, that varies a lot in your organization, your
availability of of personal timeand and your your how, how
driven you are to make changesand and how, how you see that,
what that change could do.
So when I started where I'm atnow, I was.
(13:09):
I was hired as a senior projectmanager and one of the tasks
they wanted me to do was helpbuild the kind of the
collaboration with the localteam, and it's like everyone was
working in silos, and so thefocus was getting to know them,
learning how they worked, how toget them to communicate more.
I started having meetings and,of course, I was the new guys.
(13:32):
They were like well, you know,what are you doing?
Having meetings, that you'rejust, you're new here.
And the boss got behind me andhe's like no, I like that, let's
go with that.
And then they would walk methrough their training and I
would say, oh, this is painful,you know, there's got to be a
better way to do this.
So, as I got more comfortable,then I would start asking them
(13:53):
questions and they go yeah, Iwish this was better, I wish
this was easier or faster.
Our data's all over the placeSay, okay, well, why don't we as
a team, just the five or six ofus work on something that we
can do to benefit us.
And it's not necessarily becausethere was 30, some project
managers in other regions andit's like, well, let's focus on
(14:16):
us.
Because that group I joined wasnew to the account and they
were kind of the black sheep, sothey were just trying to do
what they could, even thoughthey didn't like anything.
They didn't want to speak upand I was like I don't mind
speaking up as long I've beendoing this for years on the
outside and differentorganizations.
So I just saw a need, startedworking on it, got local buy-in
(14:41):
and then, as the processesstarted to get better for them,
they would share.
They would talk to someone inanother region and say, oh, you
should see how we do it here.
It's so much easier and youknow it still meets the, you
know the laws and the rules, butit's so much easier.
And then they go well, can I,can you show me how you're doing
it?
And then they would go to theirmanager Can we do something
(15:05):
like that here?
And over time I got to know thePMO lead.
They actually they had, I think, three PMO leads and the second
one that came in soon as shegot there, right away.
Hey, I want to.
I want to introduce myself.
I know you're new.
I want to point out right awaysome of the struggles that we're
having and I'm hoping you know,with your background, that you
could, you know, make somechanges.
What can I do to help?
And she's like, okay.
(15:27):
So she flew into our region tokind of meet different people
and I made sure I had time onher calendar and I gave her some
of my ideas and she's like,okay, I like that.
And then over time she wouldreach out and if I was doing
something new I'd run it by her.
And then we started this newsoftware rollout and it was a
(15:48):
account wide Claire's, and itwas a project management
software.
And they said, well, we wanttwo trainers and we need to pick
them from different regionsbecause they like to help people
grow and expand.
And who would be good?
Well, they had one already set.
And the PMO person went to themand said, hey, there's this guy
in Florida.
I think he'd be a goodcandidate.
(16:08):
And they're like well, yeah,we've heard of him, but we don't
really know that much about him.
How do we, how do we know thathe's the good fit.
So how do we know that he's thegood fit?
So I was always doing these tipsand tricks in our meetings and
so the PMO person talked to meand said, could you put together
like a little mini training,call it Walt's Wisdoms, you know
(16:31):
something that you could share,but with the whole account?
So I was like, yeah, absolutely.
So I put together a bunch ofoutlook tips and tricks, some
data, organization, some onenote stuff.
I don't even remember all thedifferent things it was.
It was like years ago and I puttogether all these different
things for an hour long trainingat lunchtime and it was a hit.
(16:54):
So they went back and they said, yep, he's the guy.
So I was the second trainer andI was going to do some of the
regions and the other person wasgoing to do the others.
We met in Chicago to go throughour training.
So train the trainer.
And on the way there I foundout that the other trainer was
leaving the organization.
So I'm like, well, what are yougoing to do?
(17:16):
And she's like, well, I guessyou're the guy.
Dave Crysler (17:19):
So I had to do the whole account and then COVID
hit.
Walt Sparling (17:25):
So I was excited because I was going to get to
travel to all these regions andmeet all these people I had
talked to on calls and stuff andI said, nope, no, you're going
to be doing this training fromyour house and you're going to
do it.
And I did it over a week, didfour sessions with one with each
region, and then after thatmore people got confident and
then they would have questions,they would call me and then they
(17:47):
started doing all thesedifferent initiatives and I was
like, ok, we're going to doinitiative for this.
Oh, make sure you invite Walt.
And that's how it started andit's just grown from there.
Dave Crysler (18:01):
That's, I mean, what a cool story that is, uh
and and cool accolades toyourself as well, just uh, you
know it takes.
I found really, um, you know,really effective kind of
trainers and people that canengage people.
Um, you know, there's a lot ofpeople that can present
information, but it's reallysomething to be able to convey
(18:22):
information in an approachablemanner where people retain it
and they're interested to bethere.
Right, that's the other part ofit, that you're, you know, have
a personality enough to presentthings where people you know
are engaged in what's beingpresented.
I find that's a real talent forpeople.
Walt Sparling (18:39):
I think when I was doing IT that was my one
benefit is I was an outsideconsultant and then eventually
an internal trainer and IT guy.
But it was like they're likeyou're, not like most IT guys.
I wasn't dry and boring andtechnical.
I tried to be funny, I tried tounderstand them.
I used to do this thing where Iwould take candy around to
(19:01):
people that were having roughdays and I'd leave it on their
desk.
And I remember this oneengineer we had Skype.
That was back in the Skype days, okay, and you could rename
people.
So on the on the old Skype list, my name was the candy man.
Old Skype list my name was thecandy man and it's funny that
(19:24):
that was, oh God 15, 16 yearsago.
Dave Crysler (19:25):
I'm now married to that woman.
It's, it's amazing, that'spretty wild.
A story in and of itself.
Exactly.
Walt Sparling (19:29):
But it's the whole personality.
Like you said, some people justthey know the facts, but they
they're not good at getting themout, and I'm no genius.
I've learned over time certainthings and sometimes I even got
to go to someone else and sayhow would you present this or
can you help me with thegraphics or the layout or
something?
But yeah, presenting it is big.
(19:53):
I don't like bullet lists forinstructions.
I mean, they're great for kindof getting stuff out in
PowerPoint, but even then I useanimations so you don't get all
the list at once.
Let's do one point at a time.
Yeah, but screenshots big onscreenshots.
(20:14):
You can't tell someone, or noteveryone.
Everyone's different inlearning.
There's so many learning styles, but what I have found to be
the most successful is, ifyou're going to teach someone
something, show them whatthey're actually going to be
working on, the actual thing.
A demo's good, but you can'tdemo every single time unless
you've recorded a little minivideo, which I've done that as
(20:37):
well in some cases.
But screenshot with little.
This is number one.
This is number two.
This is number three.
It's like oh, I can walkthrough that and I don't need
someone over my shoulder to doit, I can just follow the
pictures.
Dave Crysler (20:49):
Yeah, no all great information there, would you
say.
You know, when we think aboutkind of your experience and kind
of varied experience right,which and probably genuine
curiosity is part of what youknow really interests youy and
you know, maybe mentoring andhelping some other folks in that
(21:11):
space, do you think that ingeneral kind of that process
improvement aspect is withinpeople?
Do you think it's somethingthat people can kind of learn
and take advantage of?
(21:31):
And how does that work kind ofcome together through?
You know what you are doingwith PM Mastery, so oh, that's
good, that's one of my fillerwords.
Walt Sparling (21:45):
So me it's like always been in me.
There's always been a part ofme and what drives me to do
certain things is that internal.
And what drives me to docertain things is that internal.
This has taken too long, Likewhen I started out in AutoCAD.
We would do steps and I'd pickthis, pick that, do that, pick
(22:06):
this, do that, and I'd go okay,if I do it more than two or
three times, I'm automating it.
Dave Crysler (22:11):
So now it's a button.
Walt Sparling (22:14):
And it's like it doesn't make sense.
Why are you going pick, pick,pick, pick, pick, pick over and
over and over again when I cango pick?
So things like that.
I started out early in softwareand then in every place I went.
When I got into IT, when I gotinto project management, when I
did design, everything wasstarting with it and then going
this is taking too long, or thisis too many steps, or I'm
(22:35):
repeating myself and over andover again.
So I think that is ingrained incertain personality types.
I wouldn't call it OCD butmaybe some would.
My wife calls it OCD.
For me it's like oh, there wasa saying I can't remember what
it was, but it was like I'm notOCD, I just asked you to put it
(22:59):
back.
I can't even say.
In fact, the one I heard had alittle profanity so I'm not
going to repeat it.
But OCD people have certainpersonalities and I think some
of them kind of are in thatmaybe not so much process
improvement, but just how thingsshould be, how a room should be
(23:23):
laid out or how you know wherethe trash bags are stored,
whatever, just like with datamanagement, certain things
should be arranged in a certainformat.
How are you going to search forstuff?
How are you going to find stuff?
Can you learn it?
Yeah, some of it, I think youcan, especially if you're the
(23:45):
logical type where you go.
I don't understand what you'retalking about, but if you
explain it to me and I get thewhy and I see the benefit, I'll
get behind it and I'll adapt itand, yeah, moving forward, I'll
start asking more questions andfollowing that process so they
can learn the benefits in thatprocess.
(24:09):
So they can learn the benefits,maybe even learn to be the kind
of person that does it.
I kind of think it's moreingrained myself with what I do
with PM Mastery.
So PM Mastery is focused onproject managers taking project
managers that are already outthere and ones that are thinking
about getting, uh, becoming aproject manager and say, hey,
here's some tips, here's sometricks, here's some other people
(24:31):
.
Most of the focus is oninterviews.
Yeah, and I want to give abroad spectrum of what project
managers do, and that was myvision I had years ago and it's
working out.
I'm branching off in a lot ofdifferent industries, but it's
how can we help you in yourindustry?
(24:52):
The more people I interview,the more people I talk to, the
more we can share and it helpsthem.
I like to help people, I liketo coach, mentor, stuff like
that with individuals, andthat's one of the focuses of the
group that with individuals andthat's one of the focuses of
the group.
Dave Crysler (25:11):
Did that answer?
Yeah, I mean, it's definitely.
I'm always just curious.
I've always felt like it camenatural to me.
Obviously, there's things thatyou kind of learn, you learn how
to, I would say, probably tapinto it or take advantage of it
more internally by you know,that kind of curiosity and
obviously learning you knowtools and skill sets, frameworks
(25:31):
, all of those types of things.
But yeah, I was just curious toget your opinion because you
know as kind of somebody elsewho really enjoys, you know,
inquiring as to why are we doingit this way?
Walt Sparling (25:44):
Yeah, I mean, I can see us sitting around at a
bar table with a couple ofdrinks and going, oh, you're not
going to believe what they did.
They did this, this and this,and if they just did this it
would be so much better.
Dave Crysler (25:55):
Yeah, I mean, you know it's like I like I said I
could talk about things likethat and you know tossing out
ideas, and you know I sawsomething really interesting.
I love to get your takeaway onthis too.
I saw something interesting theother day.
It was about problem solvingand this person kind of had
(26:15):
presented that.
You know there's a.
The way she had learned how toproblem solve was by kind of
flipping the question around andasking you know really why
questions around?
You know, is this really theproblem, type of a thing.
And it got me thinking about.
You know, I think when werecognize an opportunity for
improvement, I think it's kindof natural to just kind of
(26:38):
continue to dig into there.
I never really thought about itfrom the problem solving aspect
and how to apply it in thatsense, but it's really the same
thing.
I mean, when you kind of breakit down and say you know that's
really all we're doing isidentifying a problem before
somebody else says that it's aproblem and then introducing you
know some different ideasaround.
You know well, what if we didthis or could we do that, you
(27:01):
know, type of a thing.
Walt Sparling (27:03):
Yeah, when you start talking about problem
solving, two things come to mind.
One is a big, big picture.
One of the compliments I gotyears and years ago was can can
dig into the details, but hasthe end in mind, you know.
So, big picture, and like witha problem, well, what is the
(27:26):
goal here?
What are we trying to solve?
Yeah, then work backwards.
Okay, so in order to do that,we got to do what.
In order to do that, what arewe going to do?
And in order to do that, whatare we going to do?
And like, okay, now we knowwhere to start because we've
worked our way back from the end.
The other is, I think, of thefive whys.
So like, why is this a problem?
(27:47):
Well, because it's the wrongcolor.
Why is it the wrong color?
Well, because they bought thewrong stuff.
Why did they buy the wrongstuff?
And you work your way down andusually they say within five
whys, you can pretty much narrowdown the root cause of any
issue and then you can figureout how to fix it.
Dave Crysler (28:05):
So those are the two things I think about with
problem solving, as long as youdon't get too hung up on it
being five, whys, yeah, wait?
Walt Sparling (28:15):
we've only got four.
Dave Crysler (28:15):
I don't know, we only got four.
We need one more.
We need one more.
I mean, you know it is difficult.
It kind of tees up one of mynext questions, but it's around
this you know it's kind oftwofold One what are some of the
tools and frameworks that youreally you know kind of like to
(28:35):
to utilize when you're lookingat opportunities and kind of
implementation?
Takeaway on?
You know, I feel like a lot ofthere's a lot of focus on kind
of tools, frameworks andmethodologies in less focus on
getting stuff done, quick winsthat turn into momentum, and I'm
(28:56):
not saying, you know, let'sjust abandon all of the things
that are out there, but what I'msaying is it's kind of the you
know the textbook definitionversus let's get some results so
we can build on these things.
What's your takeaway on both ofthose things?
Walt Sparling (29:15):
Tools are easier than frameworks Project
management.
One of the common themes iswith project managers is no one
graduates high school or is bornas a child and says I want to
be a project manager.
So it's something that theyfigure out over time.
They're good at certain thingsand they see that, hey, people
(29:37):
are coming to me and asking meto help them with these things,
and what do you know?
It's a project and over timethey become project managers and
you can do that for yearswithout any kind of formal
training or specific frameworksor process maps that you need to
do.
And then you say, ok, now Iwant to get certified, I want to
show, so you search forsomething.
(29:58):
So me, I went with PMI's PMPprogram and I waited until I got
the experience required to takethe test and I took the test.
And I took the test and Ifailed it the first time, took
it again, passed it, but thatgave me a foundation for
actually all those things that Ido.
That's like an initiating andthat's what they call either
(30:21):
planning, designing or research,and then there's the execution
or build, and then there's themonitoring and controlling and
status updates, and then there'sthe execution or build, and
then there's the monitoring andcontrolling and status updates
and then there's the closing.
It's like, oh, wow, there is anactual map here that we're
following in all projects.
My background is design orbuilding design in systems for
(30:43):
buildings and project management.
What I do is for buildingrenovations and structures.
So I don't work in the softwareworld.
Software world, you havespecific frameworks for software
development.
With Agile, you've got Scrum.
Scrum is a framework for Agilemethodology and then a framework
.
That's about all I can talk toyou about frameworks, unless you
(31:05):
want to talk about buildingframes.
So I just I know that there'sprocesses that you go through, I
know there's steps and, otherthan the Agile example, I don't
know that.
I could give you much morethere.
Tools Tools vary greatly by whatyou're doing.
(31:28):
Uh, for me, probably myfavorite tools right now, one is
for records keeping and sharingis one note.
Uh, one for uh records keeping,sharing and automation is Excel
and uh presentations, uh,communication, powerpoint and
(31:51):
scheduling, outlook, and peopleuse all of those tools
differently.
I mean I try to maximizeOutlook to what its capabilities
are, but I can talk about how Iuse tasks and I've interviewed
people how they use tasksCompletely different but it
works for them.
Calendar blocking is huge withme.
(32:13):
I block lunch, I block travelto and from a site.
I have different colors fordifferent things.
I know what's coming up becausethere's a different color for
that.
I know that's my meeting orthat's someone else's meeting or
that's an optional meeting.
So maybe OCD there.
Dave Crysler (32:31):
But I can look at something real, quickly and
efficiently.
Walt Sparling (32:34):
Know what does that mean to me?
Yeah, so those are the tools Iuse and of course I do a podcast
and I do web work.
And of course I do a podcastand I do web work and I help.
I still do some IT work on theside and I have tools I use for
those.
I have certain spyware scannersI have For the web.
(32:58):
I use WordPress and then I use aframework within WordPress for
web design.
In WordPress, for web designand for my podcast, I use
Audacity and then for doing myfinal leveling, I use Auphonic
and you can call it OCD orprocess related.
I have a OneNote that has allof my steps outlined and links
(33:22):
to every one of those steps.
So when I get done withAudacity, I go into OneNote.
I pick on step two Auphonic.
Go to Auphonic.
I already have my standardsbuilt in.
I just pick it from a dropdown,upload the file, go, do
something else, come back,download it.
What's the next step?
Well, you've got to name thefile a certain way, you've got
to upload it to a certain folder.
(33:43):
You've got to.
You know the processes makethings better, but I use
different tools for all of that.
Onenote is out there, and thenall my scheduling and Outlook
for events.
Dave Crysler (33:58):
Yeah, no, I love that.
I mean it's, you know, that tome kind of just highlights and
you know, I know this and do thesame thing.
But to me it really highlights,for people that are listening,
that you can apply, you knowprocess in general, process
improvement kind of you knowthose efficiency pieces to
literally everything that you'redoing.
(34:19):
You know scheduling tasks right, how you look at your calendar,
the immediate steps within thatprocess to walk you through an
entire workflow.
You know, and so it's everybodyis doing some level of it today
.
(34:39):
Whether or not it's documentedis always up for discussion and
debate, but the reality of it isfor everybody that's out there
that is executing process.
When it's not documented, whenthere is no reference to your
point on the OneNote walking youthrough those steps, you're
(35:02):
literally recreating thosethings every single time.
And while it may not seem likea lot, you know an extra button,
click here, an extra, oh, I gotto search for this there.
You know you start adding upall of that.
You know inefficiency for acompany the size that you work
(35:23):
for and you start multiplying itby all of those people, by all
of those days, by all of thosetouches and it's, you know it's
incredible the amount of expenseand resource that gets spent
for something that you know.
If we document, if we look atwhat the best practice is, if we
get people on board with youknow asking those and answering
(35:46):
those questions of you know whyyou know there's really a
significant amount of resourcethat could be captured and, you
know, ultimately dropped to thebottom line of any sized
organization.
Walt Sparling (35:59):
One of the sayings I've used I don't know
for 20 years is like when I wasin IT and I would try to get
people to do things a certainway with storage of their
documents and I would say, no,this is important.
Because let's just say, you gethit by a bus and you're like,
oh my God, that's so morbid.
I'm like, well, you know, I gotto start somewhere.
Someone's got to pick up whereyou left off.
(36:20):
If everyone here stores theirdocuments in a different place,
we're never going to be able topick up and move on.
Yes, and I would tell them youknow?
So we're going to mourn for youprobably, for you know, a day
or two.
And then we got to get on withthe job.
Oh my God, you're terrible.
I use that example to this dayand I just saw recently a couple
(36:48):
of months ago I was in morethan probably six months ago
someone wrote a book that said,if you get hit by a bus, and
it's all about record keepingand make sure everything is
documented and there's somereally good stuff in there, but
it's documenting everything isjust what makes it easier.
Training I hate, you know, I'llgo through training that is
canned training, and I go, okay,well, that covers like 70% of
it, but there are some otherthings that need to be handled
(37:11):
and then I'll create.
I have my own playbook for myregion and they're creating
master playbooks for everyoneand I'm like I told my teams I
will follow their playbook foreverything that is well
documented and for everythingthat's missing.
Or if it's well documented,I'll remove it from our playbook
and refer to theirs, but ifit's not covered, it's staying
(37:31):
in our playbook, Because I don'twant you guys then going, oh,
we used to have that, but notanymore, and now you've got to
ask for them to do it.
It's like, no, I want people tofocus on their primary work and
I get my bosses good at tellingme you know you're busy and
you're struggling and you'restressed, but you think maybe
(37:52):
you do that to yourself.
I'm like, yeah, I do, I know Ido, but my team is a lot less
stressed and they're the onesdoing, you know the work.
So what can I do to help them?
What tools can I provide?
What processes, whatinterference can I run?
That's what I want to do, andif it stresses me, I don't like
(38:12):
it, but if we're successful inthe end, it's a win.
Yeah.
Dave Crysler (38:21):
It's a win.
Well, walt, we're winding downhere.
Is there any final thoughtsthat you want to share with
people out there?
When it comes to processimprovement, efficiency of
operations, anything that wehaven't covered?
That concise, you've got tothink about what the problem is.
Walt Sparling (38:50):
Because I mean, when you start talking about
efficiency and all that, ifthere's no problem, there's no
reason to change anything,Everything is working just fine,
Because that's how we've alwaysdone it.
You know there's alwayssomething that could be done,
but you got to think about it.
And how is it going to benefiteverybody, not just yourself?
(39:11):
And how are you going to getthe max for the managers, max
return on investment for thetime you put into it?
Dave Crysler (39:20):
Yeah, no, that's a great perspective.
I mean, you can't change justto change.
And yes, there are alwaysopportunities that could be
identified, but there has to bevalue in the, in the amount of
effort.
So great, great perspective,great way to end things for
anybody that wants to reach outto you directly.
Well, where's the best placefor them to find you at?
Walt Sparling (40:00):
So LinkedIn is probably the best.
That's my professional spot, soit's linkedincom, forward slash
I-N and then Walt Sp messagethrough the website.
Those are probably the two bestways to get a hold of me and
learn more about what I do.
Dave Crysler (40:12):
Perfect, I'll make sure to add those into the show
notes for people to have quickaccess.
Walt, thanks so much for comingon the Everyday Business
Problems podcast.
Walt Sparling (40:22):
I appreciate the invite.
Thank you, sir.
Problems podcast.
I appreciate the invite.
Dave Crysler (40:26):
Thank you, sir.
Thank you so much for listeningtoday.
If we brought you any value,please rate, subscribe and share
our podcast.
Also, be sure to connect withus on social media by searching
at the Chrysler Club.
Until next week, I'm your host,Dave Chrysler.
Hello and welcome to the Everyday Business
Problems podcast.
I'm your host, Dave Crysler.
Each episode we talk tobusiness leaders and subject
matter experts to learn aboutthe challenges they've overcome
and the challenges they stillface.
You'll hear fresh insights,real talk and get inspiration to
grow your business.
(00:22):
Hey, everybody so excited to bewelcoming Walt Sparling to the
podcast.
Today.
Walt is with Pia Mastery, whichis a tremendous resource center
for project managementprofessionals.
That includes a blog, podcastand a mastermind group as well.
Walt is a project managementprofessional and promoter of
(00:45):
project managers and theircareer.
Walt, thanks so much for comingon the Everyday Business
Problems podcast.
Thanks for having me.
I appreciate it.
Yeah, I'm excited to get intothis conversation with you,
talking all about processimprovement and efficiency.
Kind of you know, from yourperspective as a project manager
, how that you know comes intoplay and how you are able to not
(01:09):
only identify you know areasfor opportunity, but kind of
what your process is like in andaround getting people on board
with this, presenting thosechanges to leadership, and kind
of you know the projectmanagement professional
viewpoint on all of that.
So I know you do quite a bit ofwork in the construction and
real estate spaces, whichobviously has some you know kind
(01:34):
of specifics and caveats.
So I'd love to just get a briefoverview of you know kind of
your perspective and how projectmanagement fits into the role
of process improvement.
Walt Sparling (01:47):
All right.
So yes, I work for a large realestate company.
Actually, I have my work shirton.
At the moment we deal withwe're a professional project
management firm in all aspectsof real estate leasing,
purchasing, managing, et ceteraand what my role is with the PDS
group project developmentservices we manage projects and
(02:10):
we have different.
We have markets group that justmanages, for anyone can call
them up and hire them, or someare dedicated accounts.
So I am on a dedicated account.
I have a team in Florida and wehandle all of the sites for our
client in the Florida regionand that could be anywhere from
adding a card reader to afacility to do an interior
(02:32):
renovation or even ground upbuildings.
So it's a lot of work, it's alot of territory and anytime we
can do something that's going tosave us time and energy and
frustration is where the youknow process improvements and
efficiencies come in yeah, Ilove that and I would imagine
(02:54):
that you guys are, are you knowit's really twofold right.
Dave Crysler (02:57):
You're looking at probably internal process
improvement opportunities aswell as external things that are
client facing, things that youguys identify from your
experience in having to dealwith the project management
aspect.
Walt Sparling (03:12):
You're exactly right, and that's the problem.
So our company is huge, they'reinternational, we have, I think
, right around 98,000 employees,so it's a decent size.
And then our client is also alarge company and they have like
50,000 employees.
So it's a decent size.
And then our client is also alarge company and, you know,
they have like 50,000 employees.
So everyone, or each side, hastheir own processes in place and
(03:33):
we have to figure out.
You know, some of them arerequired.
It's like we're not going to,we're not going to budge on this
, you have to do this.
And then our company is likewell, we're not going to budge
on this, you have to do that.
So we got to double up on ourtasks and process and it's like
okay, how do we make this easier?
Dave Crysler (03:50):
Yeah, I love that.
How do you guys navigate someof those kind of roadblocks that
are inherent in two kind ofGoliath companies coming
together to ultimately do worktogether right?
But how do you guys navigatesome of that give and take when
it comes to specific to processVery carefully?
Walt Sparling (04:12):
We have it's so many tiers.
So we have our company, like Isaid, is a large company.
They're project managementfocused and they have processes
that are at the corporate level.
They have a corporate PMO andthey go okay, these are the
things that we require of ourproject managers.
Then we have a local weactually called a COE, used to
(04:36):
be a PMO, but center ofexcellence for our account and
they try to bridge the gapbetween corporate requirements
and account requirements to atleast get us meeting.
You know what are the onescorporate that we could really
really don't have to do, or ifwe did them, they can be done a
little bit different, becausewe're going to die on all these
(04:57):
processes.
And then they do the same thing.
They interface with our client.
You go okay, we know you have alot of processes as well, but
which ones are you willing tocompromise or, uh, maybe drop?
And that's a big battle we haveall the time with.
(05:36):
How do we not do things twice?
Yeah, it makes sense.
Before I came here, I was an ITconsultant for a while, so I've
done some programming, I've donesome document management, I've
helped firms set up theirsystems and out of that I
learned a lot.
I learned what people like todo and what people don't like to
do and what kind of things savethem time.
(05:59):
So as I've gone to each companyI've worked at, I've always
settled in for a little bit,listened, watched and then said
you guys, there are some thingsyou could do that would make
this process go faster, or wecould automate it, streamline it
.
Are you open to that?
And usually they're like yeah,we don't know.
(06:19):
This is just how we've alwaysdone it.
Dave Crysler (06:21):
That's the way we've always done it.
Walt Sparling (06:23):
It's like, okay, well, I got some ideas and I
would always revamp their ITsystem and their document
management and even in somecases, because of my background
design processes, I used to do alot of AutoCAD customization
for people in the world that useAutoCAD.
I actually had a blog on thatwhere I would write custom
(06:44):
scripts and then show people howto create certain tools.
So that's always been kind ofmy side thing, what some people
refer to as like my littlesuperpower outside of my normal
job, and so I'm alwaysinterested in learning things
about that and sharing what Iknow when people ask.
Dave Crysler (07:06):
Yeah, I love that.
I mean, I think anybody that'skind of in and around process
improvement and whether it'stheir superpower or they're just
interested, it really has to bedriven from kind of that
curiosity standpoint andcontinuing to ask people
questions.
And you know, why are we doingit this way?
Well, it's the way we've alwaysdone.
(07:26):
We always love that particularline, favorite line.
Yeah, how do you find the kindof communication flow ends up
happening?
Because I feel like that'smaybe a sticking point for a lot
of people that are, you know,potentially recognizing some
opportunities for improvementFrom your standpoint.
You know, what are some of theways to kind of prompt some good
(07:48):
conversations around that?
Is it really just about askingyou know better questions, or
what have you found in yourexperience?
Walt Sparling (07:54):
Well, first off, know your audience because
depending who you're talking to,it's going to be a different
conversation, you know, formaybe the end user it's going to
be how can you get this donefaster?
Or how can you have to do lesssteps, which it could be faster,
but it could just be less of ahassle.
But if you're talking tomanagement, then you got to talk
(08:17):
okay, what's ROI and how isthis going to benefit us?
And when you do this, you'renot going to be doing your
normal job going to benefit us,and when you do this, you're not
going to be doing your normaljob.
So it's, it's figuring out whoyou're talking to and then have
a game plan.
Don't just walk in, oh, I havethis idea and they go.
(08:39):
No, and I've had.
I was with a large engineeringfirm and I worked directly for
the owner.
He was my manager, I was the ITand CAD manager there and I was
looking at all their systems.
They had like 75 people.
I said you guys could reallybenefit from an intranet.
And this was back before.
Intranets were cool and some ofthe big companies had them and
I said but it's really not thatcomplicated to set up, we could
set up.
(08:59):
I was doing web stuff at thetime so I started to see some of
the value in it.
I'm like, yeah, we could createan intranet.
And they're like, no, that'sfor big companies, not
interested, Go do your other job.
Dave Crysler (09:08):
And I wouldn't let it go.
Walt Sparling (09:10):
So I talked to some of the users and users and
there was a lot of them and toldthem some of the things that
would be cool if we had anintranet.
And they're like, yeah, thatwould be cool.
This is so archaic the way wedo things.
So I just created like a littlemini hidden intranet and shared
it with certain people thedesign group and the CAD guys.
So they had standards, theyneed to look up stuff.
(09:32):
They had to go get a binder andlook up stuff.
Now they just popped up a pageand went to it.
I go, okay, that's it, and Ilet that go, you know, kind of
undercover, for months.
And then they started askingfor more.
Oh, can we do this, can we dothat?
And then when I got up to myboss, I thought we talked about
this, we don't need this.
(09:54):
And I said, well, yeah, buttalk to the users.
And it was like, wow, this isactually speeding people up,
it's getting communicationbetter.
Now there's no excuses ofdidn't know where the binder was
or who had it or whatever it's.
Everything was right there onthe screen.
So now their homepage when theystarted up the computer was the
(10:16):
intranet homepage.
And then we got.
I got fun with it.
I started putting Easter eggsout on the on the site and
people would try to find themand then, yay, we got it.
So it became a fun thing andeverybody got on there because
there was value in it in theirjobs and that management
(10:36):
eventually bought in.
But so you got to.
I can't say you do that onevery time, because sometimes
you got to come up with a planand say, okay, this is why you
need an intranet or this is whyyou need to change this process.
And when it's with managers,you've got to tell them this is
going to save man hours, it'sgoing to get the product out the
(10:56):
door faster, it's going tocreate less errors, those things
they can get behind.
The users are like how do I getthis done faster or less steps?
Dave Crysler (11:07):
So it's a different conversation much more
trouble than it's worth to takethat approach.
But you know it's and I loveyour example there because you
(11:28):
know when people, especially inleadership, can recognize those
benefits and whether it'sbecause you've built out the use
case or you've got some data toback.
You know kind of your, yourhypothesis on something.
You know it's.
It is a different conversation.
It's a different conversationthat you have to have with that
leadership group.
Sometimes it's, you know it's a, it's an owner, sometimes it's
(11:50):
a you know middle managementlayer.
But you've got to understand whoit is you're chatting with, how
to have that conversation.
That's great insights to to addinto it.
So what do you, what would yousay?
You know, in terms of kind ofthe, the, the project management
role, as we look at rollingsome of the process improvements
(12:10):
out, how do you feel like, uh,kind of your designation as a,
as a PMP, as a projectmanagement professional and, in
some of the larger organizations, how do you feel that that kind
of role fits into the overallcourse of, you know, process
improvement, kind of thatdevelopment piece from you know,
recognizing the things thatneed to be improved and
(12:33):
ultimately rolling out throughthe implementation, because you
know you have your hands in alot of different aspects,
obviously as a project manager.
So how do you kind of navigatethat and what do you find is
your role within that?
Walt Sparling (12:49):
Oh, that varies a lot in your organization, your
availability of of personal timeand and your your how, how
driven you are to make changesand and how, how you see that,
what that change could do.
So when I started where I'm atnow, I was.
(13:09):
I was hired as a senior projectmanager and one of the tasks
they wanted me to do was helpbuild the kind of the
collaboration with the localteam, and it's like everyone was
working in silos, and so thefocus was getting to know them,
learning how they worked, how toget them to communicate more.
I started having meetings and,of course, I was the new guys.
(13:32):
They were like well, you know,what are you doing?
Having meetings, that you'rejust, you're new here.
And the boss got behind me andhe's like no, I like that, let's
go with that.
And then they would walk methrough their training and I
would say, oh, this is painful,you know, there's got to be a
better way to do this.
So, as I got more comfortable,then I would start asking them
(13:53):
questions and they go yeah, Iwish this was better, I wish
this was easier or faster.
Our data's all over the placeSay, okay, well, why don't we as
a team, just the five or six ofus work on something that we
can do to benefit us.
And it's not necessarily becausethere was 30, some project
managers in other regions andit's like, well, let's focus on
(14:16):
us.
Because that group I joined wasnew to the account and they
were kind of the black sheep, sothey were just trying to do
what they could, even thoughthey didn't like anything.
They didn't want to speak upand I was like I don't mind
speaking up as long I've beendoing this for years on the
outside and differentorganizations.
So I just saw a need, startedworking on it, got local buy-in
(14:41):
and then, as the processesstarted to get better for them,
they would share.
They would talk to someone inanother region and say, oh, you
should see how we do it here.
It's so much easier and youknow it still meets the, you
know the laws and the rules, butit's so much easier.
And then they go well, can I,can you show me how you're doing
it?
And then they would go to theirmanager Can we do something
(15:05):
like that here?
And over time I got to know thePMO lead.
They actually they had, I think, three PMO leads and the second
one that came in soon as shegot there, right away.
Hey, I want to.
I want to introduce myself.
I know you're new.
I want to point out right awaysome of the struggles that we're
having and I'm hoping you know,with your background, that you
could, you know, make somechanges.
What can I do to help?
And she's like, okay.
(15:27):
So she flew into our region tokind of meet different people
and I made sure I had time onher calendar and I gave her some
of my ideas and she's like,okay, I like that.
And then over time she wouldreach out and if I was doing
something new I'd run it by her.
And then we started this newsoftware rollout and it was a
(15:48):
account wide Claire's, and itwas a project management
software.
And they said, well, we wanttwo trainers and we need to pick
them from different regionsbecause they like to help people
grow and expand.
And who would be good?
Well, they had one already set.
And the PMO person went to themand said, hey, there's this guy
in Florida.
I think he'd be a goodcandidate.
(16:08):
And they're like well, yeah,we've heard of him, but we don't
really know that much about him.
How do we, how do we know thathe's the good fit.
So how do we know that he's thegood fit?
So I was always doing these tipsand tricks in our meetings and
so the PMO person talked to meand said, could you put together
like a little mini training,call it Walt's Wisdoms, you know
(16:31):
something that you could share,but with the whole account?
So I was like, yeah, absolutely.
So I put together a bunch ofoutlook tips and tricks, some
data, organization, some onenote stuff.
I don't even remember all thedifferent things it was.
It was like years ago and I puttogether all these different
things for an hour long trainingat lunchtime and it was a hit.
(16:54):
So they went back and they said, yep, he's the guy.
So I was the second trainer andI was going to do some of the
regions and the other person wasgoing to do the others.
We met in Chicago to go throughour training.
So train the trainer.
And on the way there I foundout that the other trainer was
leaving the organization.
So I'm like, well, what are yougoing to do?
(17:16):
And she's like, well, I guessyou're the guy.
Dave Crysler (17:19):
So I had to do the whole account and then COVID
hit.
Walt Sparling (17:25):
So I was excited because I was going to get to
travel to all these regions andmeet all these people I had
talked to on calls and stuff andI said, nope, no, you're going
to be doing this training fromyour house and you're going to
do it.
And I did it over a week, didfour sessions with one with each
region, and then after thatmore people got confident and
then they would have questions,they would call me and then they
(17:47):
started doing all thesedifferent initiatives and I was
like, ok, we're going to doinitiative for this.
Oh, make sure you invite Walt.
And that's how it started andit's just grown from there.
Dave Crysler (18:01):
That's, I mean, what a cool story that is, uh
and and cool accolades toyourself as well, just uh, you
know it takes.
I found really, um, you know,really effective kind of
trainers and people that canengage people.
Um, you know, there's a lot ofpeople that can present
information, but it's reallysomething to be able to convey
(18:22):
information in an approachablemanner where people retain it
and they're interested to bethere.
Right, that's the other part ofit, that you're, you know, have
a personality enough to presentthings where people you know
are engaged in what's beingpresented.
I find that's a real talent forpeople.
Walt Sparling (18:39):
I think when I was doing IT that was my one
benefit is I was an outsideconsultant and then eventually
an internal trainer and IT guy.
But it was like they're likeyou're, not like most IT guys.
I wasn't dry and boring andtechnical.
I tried to be funny, I tried tounderstand them.
I used to do this thing where Iwould take candy around to
(19:01):
people that were having roughdays and I'd leave it on their
desk.
And I remember this oneengineer we had Skype.
That was back in the Skype days, okay, and you could rename
people.
So on the on the old Skype list, my name was the candy man.
Old Skype list my name was thecandy man and it's funny that
(19:24):
that was, oh God 15, 16 yearsago.
Dave Crysler (19:25):
I'm now married to that woman.
It's, it's amazing, that'spretty wild.
A story in and of itself.
Exactly.
Walt Sparling (19:29):
But it's the whole personality.
Like you said, some people justthey know the facts, but they
they're not good at getting themout, and I'm no genius.
I've learned over time certainthings and sometimes I even got
to go to someone else and sayhow would you present this or
can you help me with thegraphics or the layout or
something?
But yeah, presenting it is big.
(19:53):
I don't like bullet lists forinstructions.
I mean, they're great for kindof getting stuff out in
PowerPoint, but even then I useanimations so you don't get all
the list at once.
Let's do one point at a time.
Yeah, but screenshots big onscreenshots.
(20:14):
You can't tell someone, or noteveryone.
Everyone's different inlearning.
There's so many learning styles, but what I have found to be
the most successful is, ifyou're going to teach someone
something, show them whatthey're actually going to be
working on, the actual thing.
A demo's good, but you can'tdemo every single time unless
you've recorded a little minivideo, which I've done that as
(20:37):
well in some cases.
But screenshot with little.
This is number one.
This is number two.
This is number three.
It's like oh, I can walkthrough that and I don't need
someone over my shoulder to doit, I can just follow the
pictures.
Dave Crysler (20:49):
Yeah, no all great information there, would you
say.
You know, when we think aboutkind of your experience and kind
of varied experience right,which and probably genuine
curiosity is part of what youknow really interests youy and
you know, maybe mentoring andhelping some other folks in that
(21:11):
space, do you think that ingeneral kind of that process
improvement aspect is withinpeople?
Do you think it's somethingthat people can kind of learn
and take advantage of?
(21:31):
And how does that work kind ofcome together through?
You know what you are doingwith PM Mastery, so oh, that's
good, that's one of my fillerwords.
Walt Sparling (21:45):
So me it's like always been in me.
There's always been a part ofme and what drives me to do
certain things is that internal.
And what drives me to docertain things is that internal.
This has taken too long, Likewhen I started out in AutoCAD.
We would do steps and I'd pickthis, pick that, do that, pick
(22:06):
this, do that, and I'd go okay,if I do it more than two or
three times, I'm automating it.
Dave Crysler (22:11):
So now it's a button.
Walt Sparling (22:14):
And it's like it doesn't make sense.
Why are you going pick, pick,pick, pick, pick, pick over and
over and over again when I cango pick?
So things like that.
I started out early in softwareand then in every place I went.
When I got into IT, when I gotinto project management, when I
did design, everything wasstarting with it and then going
this is taking too long, or thisis too many steps, or I'm
(22:35):
repeating myself and over andover again.
So I think that is ingrained incertain personality types.
I wouldn't call it OCD butmaybe some would.
My wife calls it OCD.
For me it's like oh, there wasa saying I can't remember what
it was, but it was like I'm notOCD, I just asked you to put it
(22:59):
back.
I can't even say.
In fact, the one I heard had alittle profanity so I'm not
going to repeat it.
But OCD people have certainpersonalities and I think some
of them kind of are in thatmaybe not so much process
improvement, but just how thingsshould be, how a room should be
(23:23):
laid out or how you know wherethe trash bags are stored,
whatever, just like with datamanagement, certain things
should be arranged in a certainformat.
How are you going to search forstuff?
How are you going to find stuff?
Can you learn it?
Yeah, some of it, I think youcan, especially if you're the
(23:45):
logical type where you go.
I don't understand what you'retalking about, but if you
explain it to me and I get thewhy and I see the benefit, I'll
get behind it and I'll adapt itand, yeah, moving forward, I'll
start asking more questions andfollowing that process so they
can learn the benefits in thatprocess.
(24:09):
So they can learn the benefits,maybe even learn to be the kind
of person that does it.
I kind of think it's moreingrained myself with what I do
with PM Mastery.
So PM Mastery is focused onproject managers taking project
managers that are already outthere and ones that are thinking
about getting, uh, becoming aproject manager and say, hey,
here's some tips, here's sometricks, here's some other people
(24:31):
.
Most of the focus is oninterviews.
Yeah, and I want to give abroad spectrum of what project
managers do, and that was myvision I had years ago and it's
working out.
I'm branching off in a lot ofdifferent industries, but it's
how can we help you in yourindustry?
(24:52):
The more people I interview,the more people I talk to, the
more we can share and it helpsthem.
I like to help people, I liketo coach, mentor, stuff like
that with individuals, andthat's one of the focuses of the
group that with individuals andthat's one of the focuses of
the group.
Dave Crysler (25:11):
Did that answer?
Yeah, I mean, it's definitely.
I'm always just curious.
I've always felt like it camenatural to me.
Obviously, there's things thatyou kind of learn, you learn how
to, I would say, probably tapinto it or take advantage of it
more internally by you know,that kind of curiosity and
obviously learning you knowtools and skill sets, frameworks
(25:31):
, all of those types of things.
But yeah, I was just curious toget your opinion because you
know as kind of somebody elsewho really enjoys, you know,
inquiring as to why are we doingit this way?
Walt Sparling (25:44):
Yeah, I mean, I can see us sitting around at a
bar table with a couple ofdrinks and going, oh, you're not
going to believe what they did.
They did this, this and this,and if they just did this it
would be so much better.
Dave Crysler (25:55):
Yeah, I mean, you know it's like I like I said I
could talk about things likethat and you know tossing out
ideas, and you know I sawsomething really interesting.
I love to get your takeaway onthis too.
I saw something interesting theother day.
It was about problem solvingand this person kind of had
(26:15):
presented that.
You know there's a.
The way she had learned how toproblem solve was by kind of
flipping the question around andasking you know really why
questions around?
You know, is this really theproblem, type of a thing.
And it got me thinking about.
You know, I think when werecognize an opportunity for
improvement, I think it's kindof natural to just kind of
(26:38):
continue to dig into there.
I never really thought about itfrom the problem solving aspect
and how to apply it in thatsense, but it's really the same
thing.
I mean, when you kind of breakit down and say you know that's
really all we're doing isidentifying a problem before
somebody else says that it's aproblem and then introducing you
know some different ideasaround.
You know well, what if we didthis or could we do that, you
(27:01):
know, type of a thing.
Walt Sparling (27:03):
Yeah, when you start talking about problem
solving, two things come to mind.
One is a big, big picture.
One of the compliments I gotyears and years ago was can can
dig into the details, but hasthe end in mind, you know.
So, big picture, and like witha problem, well, what is the
(27:26):
goal here?
What are we trying to solve?
Yeah, then work backwards.
Okay, so in order to do that,we got to do what.
In order to do that, what arewe going to do?
And in order to do that, whatare we going to do?
And like, okay, now we knowwhere to start because we've
worked our way back from the end.
The other is, I think, of thefive whys.
So like, why is this a problem?
(27:47):
Well, because it's the wrongcolor.
Why is it the wrong color?
Well, because they bought thewrong stuff.
Why did they buy the wrongstuff?
And you work your way down andusually they say within five
whys, you can pretty much narrowdown the root cause of any
issue and then you can figureout how to fix it.
Dave Crysler (28:05):
So those are the two things I think about with
problem solving, as long as youdon't get too hung up on it
being five, whys, yeah, wait?
Walt Sparling (28:15):
we've only got four.
Dave Crysler (28:15):
I don't know, we only got four.
We need one more.
We need one more.
I mean, you know it is difficult.
It kind of tees up one of mynext questions, but it's around
this you know it's kind oftwofold One what are some of the
tools and frameworks that youreally you know kind of like to
(28:35):
to utilize when you're lookingat opportunities and kind of
implementation?
Takeaway on?
You know, I feel like a lot ofthere's a lot of focus on kind
of tools, frameworks andmethodologies in less focus on
getting stuff done, quick winsthat turn into momentum, and I'm
(28:56):
not saying, you know, let'sjust abandon all of the things
that are out there, but what I'msaying is it's kind of the you
know the textbook definitionversus let's get some results so
we can build on these things.
What's your takeaway on both ofthose things?
Walt Sparling (29:15):
Tools are easier than frameworks Project
management.
One of the common themes iswith project managers is no one
graduates high school or is bornas a child and says I want to
be a project manager.
So it's something that theyfigure out over time.
They're good at certain thingsand they see that, hey, people
(29:37):
are coming to me and asking meto help them with these things,
and what do you know?
It's a project and over timethey become project managers and
you can do that for yearswithout any kind of formal
training or specific frameworksor process maps that you need to
do.
And then you say, ok, now Iwant to get certified, I want to
show, so you search forsomething.
(29:58):
So me, I went with PMI's PMPprogram and I waited until I got
the experience required to takethe test and I took the test.
And I took the test and Ifailed it the first time, took
it again, passed it, but thatgave me a foundation for
actually all those things that Ido.
That's like an initiating andthat's what they call either
(30:21):
planning, designing or research,and then there's the execution
or build, and then there's themonitoring and controlling and
status updates, and then there'sthe execution or build, and
then there's the monitoring andcontrolling and status updates
and then there's the closing.
It's like, oh, wow, there is anactual map here that we're
following in all projects.
My background is design orbuilding design in systems for
(30:43):
buildings and project management.
What I do is for buildingrenovations and structures.
So I don't work in the softwareworld.
Software world, you havespecific frameworks for software
development.
With Agile, you've got Scrum.
Scrum is a framework for Agilemethodology and then a framework
.
That's about all I can talk toyou about frameworks, unless you
(31:05):
want to talk about buildingframes.
So I just I know that there'sprocesses that you go through, I
know there's steps and, otherthan the Agile example, I don't
know that.
I could give you much morethere.
Tools Tools vary greatly by whatyou're doing.
(31:28):
Uh, for me, probably myfavorite tools right now, one is
for records keeping and sharingis one note.
Uh, one for uh records keeping,sharing and automation is Excel
and uh presentations, uh,communication, powerpoint and
(31:51):
scheduling, outlook, and peopleuse all of those tools
differently.
I mean I try to maximizeOutlook to what its capabilities
are, but I can talk about how Iuse tasks and I've interviewed
people how they use tasksCompletely different but it
works for them.
Calendar blocking is huge withme.
(32:13):
I block lunch, I block travelto and from a site.
I have different colors fordifferent things.
I know what's coming up becausethere's a different color for
that.
I know that's my meeting orthat's someone else's meeting or
that's an optional meeting.
So maybe OCD there.
Dave Crysler (32:31):
But I can look at something real, quickly and
efficiently.
Walt Sparling (32:34):
Know what does that mean to me?
Yeah, so those are the tools Iuse and of course I do a podcast
and I do web work.
And of course I do a podcastand I do web work and I help.
I still do some IT work on theside and I have tools I use for
those.
I have certain spyware scannersI have For the web.
(32:58):
I use WordPress and then I use aframework within WordPress for
web design.
In WordPress, for web designand for my podcast, I use
Audacity and then for doing myfinal leveling, I use Auphonic
and you can call it OCD orprocess related.
I have a OneNote that has allof my steps outlined and links
(33:22):
to every one of those steps.
So when I get done withAudacity, I go into OneNote.
I pick on step two Auphonic.
Go to Auphonic.
I already have my standardsbuilt in.
I just pick it from a dropdown,upload the file, go, do
something else, come back,download it.
What's the next step?
Well, you've got to name thefile a certain way, you've got
to upload it to a certain folder.
(33:43):
You've got to.
You know the processes makethings better, but I use
different tools for all of that.
Onenote is out there, and thenall my scheduling and Outlook
for events.
Dave Crysler (33:58):
Yeah, no, I love that.
I mean it's, you know, that tome kind of just highlights and
you know, I know this and do thesame thing.
But to me it really highlights,for people that are listening,
that you can apply, you knowprocess in general, process
improvement kind of you knowthose efficiency pieces to
literally everything that you'redoing.
(34:19):
You know scheduling tasks right, how you look at your calendar,
the immediate steps within thatprocess to walk you through an
entire workflow.
You know, and so it's everybodyis doing some level of it today
.
(34:39):
Whether or not it's documentedis always up for discussion and
debate, but the reality of it isfor everybody that's out there
that is executing process.
When it's not documented, whenthere is no reference to your
point on the OneNote walking youthrough those steps, you're
(35:02):
literally recreating thosethings every single time.
And while it may not seem likea lot, you know an extra button,
click here, an extra, oh, I gotto search for this there.
You know you start adding upall of that.
You know inefficiency for acompany the size that you work
(35:23):
for and you start multiplying itby all of those people, by all
of those days, by all of thosetouches and it's, you know it's
incredible the amount of expenseand resource that gets spent
for something that you know.
If we document, if we look atwhat the best practice is, if we
get people on board with youknow asking those and answering
(35:46):
those questions of you know whyyou know there's really a
significant amount of resourcethat could be captured and, you
know, ultimately dropped to thebottom line of any sized
organization.
Walt Sparling (35:59):
One of the sayings I've used I don't know
for 20 years is like when I wasin IT and I would try to get
people to do things a certainway with storage of their
documents and I would say, no,this is important.
Because let's just say, you gethit by a bus and you're like,
oh my God, that's so morbid.
I'm like, well, you know, I gotto start somewhere.
Someone's got to pick up whereyou left off.
(36:20):
If everyone here stores theirdocuments in a different place,
we're never going to be able topick up and move on.
Yes, and I would tell them youknow?
So we're going to mourn for youprobably, for you know, a day
or two.
And then we got to get on withthe job.
Oh my God, you're terrible.
I use that example to this dayand I just saw recently a couple
(36:48):
of months ago I was in morethan probably six months ago
someone wrote a book that said,if you get hit by a bus, and
it's all about record keepingand make sure everything is
documented and there's somereally good stuff in there, but
it's documenting everything isjust what makes it easier.
Training I hate, you know, I'llgo through training that is
canned training, and I go, okay,well, that covers like 70% of
it, but there are some otherthings that need to be handled
(37:11):
and then I'll create.
I have my own playbook for myregion and they're creating
master playbooks for everyoneand I'm like I told my teams I
will follow their playbook foreverything that is well
documented and for everythingthat's missing.
Or if it's well documented,I'll remove it from our playbook
and refer to theirs, but ifit's not covered, it's staying
(37:31):
in our playbook, Because I don'twant you guys then going, oh,
we used to have that, but notanymore, and now you've got to
ask for them to do it.
It's like, no, I want people tofocus on their primary work and
I get my bosses good at tellingme you know you're busy and
you're struggling and you'restressed, but you think maybe
(37:52):
you do that to yourself.
I'm like, yeah, I do, I know Ido, but my team is a lot less
stressed and they're the onesdoing, you know the work.
So what can I do to help them?
What tools can I provide?
What processes, whatinterference can I run?
That's what I want to do, andif it stresses me, I don't like
(38:12):
it, but if we're successful inthe end, it's a win.
Yeah.
Dave Crysler (38:21):
It's a win.
Well, walt, we're winding downhere.
Is there any final thoughtsthat you want to share with
people out there?
When it comes to processimprovement, efficiency of
operations, anything that wehaven't covered?
That concise, you've got tothink about what the problem is.
Walt Sparling (38:50):
Because I mean, when you start talking about
efficiency and all that, ifthere's no problem, there's no
reason to change anything,Everything is working just fine,
Because that's how we've alwaysdone it.
You know there's alwayssomething that could be done,
but you got to think about it.
And how is it going to benefiteverybody, not just yourself?
(39:11):
And how are you going to getthe max for the managers, max
return on investment for thetime you put into it?
Dave Crysler (39:20):
Yeah, no, that's a great perspective.
I mean, you can't change justto change.
And yes, there are alwaysopportunities that could be
identified, but there has to bevalue in the, in the amount of
effort.
So great, great perspective,great way to end things for
anybody that wants to reach outto you directly.
Well, where's the best placefor them to find you at?
Walt Sparling (40:00):
So LinkedIn is probably the best.
That's my professional spot, soit's linkedincom, forward slash
I-N and then Walt Sp messagethrough the website.
Those are probably the two bestways to get a hold of me and
learn more about what I do.
Dave Crysler (40:12):
Perfect, I'll make sure to add those into the show
notes for people to have quickaccess.
Walt, thanks so much for comingon the Everyday Business
Problems podcast.
Walt Sparling (40:22):
I appreciate the invite.
Thank you, sir.
Problems podcast.
I appreciate the invite.
Dave Crysler (40:26):
Thank you, sir.
Thank you so much for listeningtoday.
If we brought you any value,please rate, subscribe and share
our podcast.
Also, be sure to connect withus on social media by searching
at the Chrysler Club.
Until next week, I'm your host,Dave Chrysler.
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