Notes from 53rd International STC Conference
Las Vegas, Nevada, May 7-10, 2006

A Simple Transactional Analysis Tool for Harried Project Managers
Round-Table Presentation within Progression, "Winning Management: Managing Projects"

Laura Ramsey

Based on a Ph.D. dissertation, "Project Management and Transactional Agreements: A Successful Partnership," by project "triage/troubleshooter" Scott MacGregor, who specializes in saving projects that are in trouble.

Session Description: The presenter showed a template for applying transactional analysis to project management and illustrated its use.

• Recording all that is shared by key individuals of the team – including the customer – can allow the project manager to arrive at a clear understanding of the issues. Listening and taking notes about what others say show the project manager's respect for their opinions – what they care about. Bellman (1993) suggests that others will tell project managers what they want, if the project manager is attuned to their needs (quid pro quo).
• Template
   
• Project description (size, subcontractors, vendors)
   
• Funding
• Customer
• Supplier/vendor
• Plan and requirements
• Change management
• Risk factors
• Schedule
• Communication plan
• Quality
• Other
• What was missing?
• Major complaint for this project:
• Trust issues
• What I did to make the project successful
• The key is for the project manager to step back and observe the transactions within the team and between the team and clients, other disciplines, etc.
• The template imposes structure on the process.