The People, Process, & Progress Podcast - How to Align Any Team | S7 Ep2

Episode Date: September 8, 2025

Most team problems come from unclear direction, not a lack of effort. In this episode, I share three practical tools: Leader’s Intent, a clear Definition of Done, and SMART objectives that bring clarity and speed to any project. You will hear a real example of how alignment turned a drifting team into one that delivered with confidence.For more tools and "How to" get The People, Process, & Progress of Project Management on Amazon at https://a.co/d/4zpt5pz and visit the peopleprocessprogress.com website.

Most confusion comes from unclear direction, not lazy teams. If your team cannot say what matters, what does not, and what done looks like, your project will drift. Today we will set intent, define done, and write smart objectives that guide action. Welcome to People Process Progress. I'm Kevin Pinell, author of The Stability Equation, Seven Pillars for More Balanced Life, and the People Process and Progress in Project Management. This show is about how we put people first, keep process aligned, and make progress together. I share lessons from my time in the Navy, public safety, health care, information technology, and from training in the gym and on the Jiu-Jitsu Mets. So let's jump in and make some

progress together. I was kicked off a project with strong energy, detailed plan, we had milestones, we had meetings, and we had people who cared, which is the most important thing. What we did not have was a shared definition of done. Half the team thought finished meant creating a draft. Well, the other half thought it meant a fully polished product, ready for release. We quote, finished twice, trust slip, timeline took a hit, right? But once we realized we were spinning, we stopped, regrouped, and then rewrote leaders intent, made sure we had a clear definition of done, and a few smart objectives, right? And that reset brought the team back together. Same people, better clarity, better progress. So today we're going to go through people

process some progress of how to get leaders intent, how to define definition of done, how to write smart objectives, which I've talked about quite a bit because it's so important, how we can measure our progress and some actions you can take away to restart or reevaluate or start fresh with the projects that you're leaving. So let's get into people, right, the most important thing. So before you set up processes and start tracking progress, you have to get the people aligned. Project team will always have different perspectives. And if those perspectives are not connected to a shared understanding, the project risk getting pulled in too many directions. So this section is about building clarity up front with the sponsor, the business owner, and then the

team, so we all understand what matters, what does not, who decides what. When the people piece is strong, usually everything else flows much more smoothly. And for me, I've worked with police chiefs or chief operating officers for national level planned events and in response to horrible strategies. And I share that because in each of these interactions, leaders intent was critical, right? Sometimes the intent was given proactively. Other times it had to be drawn out through questions and clarifications and for us as program project managers leaders we have to do that sometimes that's our soft skills kicking in but in every case it was vital that the boots or high heels if you're in the office on the ground knew exactly what was expected right without that clarity the risk

of missteps or wasted effort skyrockets so let's start with this alignment right this leader's intent it is usually set by the sponsor the main decision maker but for us as project managers we're going to have to help them define this or write it out or understand like, hey, this would be real helpful for our team to know very overtly. Like, we're going to tell them this, right? We're going to write it into, you know, a one sentence that the team can remember. So here's what this sounds like. We will deliver a new scheduling process to improve efficiency and reduce confusion. We will not add extra steps or features that slow people down, right? So we get what do we want to do? What do we not want to do? And the clarity on this is like, who owns the strategic

calls, who owns the technical choices, who owns day-to-day delivery. But we know the leader wants us to deliver a new scheduling process that's going to improve efficiency and reduce confusion without adding extra steps and features that slow people down. Right. So the prompt that we could take to our team is, hey, here's our intent in one line, right? Here's who makes the decisions. Here's what done means at a high level, what is unclear and ask them. So we get this done. We get this intent and we get this conversation, which we should be having regularly with our project teams, with our leaders of all levels, to help them understand what are we putting all this time and effort and money and resources towards? So now that we kind of have an understanding of getting

people aligned, you know, a basic understanding. Again, go to people processprogress.com for more. Check out the people process and progress of project management on Amazon. I dive deeper into that. So let's talk about process. What do we do now that we started these conversations? Well, once the people are more aligned, the process will give them structure to follow, right? Without process, even the most motivated teams can spin their wheels and waste energy and money. The key is not to overload them with layers of bureaucracy, though, right? But rather to establish just enough structure to make sure that everyone is working toward the same outcome. So a good process creates consistency, right?

Without becoming a burden, and you all have probably seen this, there's some administrative overhead that is just too much. It's like, well, you're not doing exactly like this. But I'll say as you read, if you read, and I hope you do, the people process in progress of project management. It's a book I put together that I wish I had when I started. There are plenty of processes to choose from, right? Waterfall, Agile blended methods, even models like the incident command system from public safety. But what matters most is not that you pick the right one from a book or from the PMP.

What matters is that everyone knows what process you are following in plain, practical terms. what do we just do, what are we doing now, what is coming next, right? That's a super basic way to do it. That is a shared rhythm that keeps the team moving in sync, right, instead of drifting apart. So I'm going to circle back to that intent because, again, the leader's intent sets the tone for everything else. It gets us to objectives, to our definition of done. And I want to give you a formula. So part of the process of helping that leader develop the intent is, and I'll include this on the posts on the people processprogress.

dot com website for this episode but we will and then in brackets deliver what for in brackets two in order to bracket's desired outcome right we will not in brackets list what we must avoid and this would be measured by in brackets success signals like you know percent increase reduced money time saving right within brackets time frame so it's kind of like a smart objective a lot of those elements are in there but it's coming from the sponsor it's not necessarily the objectives we're going to plan all the tactical stuff towards and it's for every aspect of the project. So again, let's go back to the earlier example we talked about. We'll deliver a new scheduling process for the team in order to improve efficiency and reduce confusion. We will

not create extra steps that slow people down or build features that no one asked for. Right. And success will be measured by task completion rates, fewer scheduling conflicts within the next quarter. Now the challenge of these is are you set up to measure those before and then measure them after? Right. But I think versions like this keep the direction clear while protecting the team from scope creep and you know we'll still get into the technical requirements but it should help us not over engineer things or make unintended outcomes that don't really have to do with the leader's intent or as we'll talk about now defining the definition of done right this is what finished really mean so for example all the major parts are complete work has been tested or reviewed end users and

customers confirm it works for them documentation or instructions are updated no major loose ends were made now these are basic elements because you know there are so many examples and you all probably have some too but if you can say done looks like this right it can be one paragraph it can be bullets like i just you know talk through or read through in my notes but it needs to be really clear what that means right and you can have a checklist so what i just had and again i'll include this on the on the site and check out the book and a lot of stuff's in there i know i'm pushing it but it's very helpful so the definition definition of done should be really clear to the team of we are trying to get to this thing,

and that means we have done all these things. And in the book I outlined, the example is setting up a new computer for a user, right? So it's making sure that the network port works, making sure that the computer's set up, the power works, it turns on Windows boots or Mac, whatever OS you're using. The peripherals work. I can print to somewhere, the software on it works. Right, we have all these steps of just for one PC, let alone,

a whole deployment somewhere of a bunch of those. So keeping in this process, let's talk about smart objectives, It's one of my favorite things to do. And I've talked about the importance of these quite a bit because it's huge, right? They're critical and they should be and can be tied to every task on a project, right? How do we get there in the civilian world? We take a fuzzy goal and we sharpen it. So let's say we have a vague goal.

Let's launch a new process. Someone says and they give us the money and the resources and we go, cool, let's refine that. So we'll deliver a scheduling process used by all team members tested in real operations. It's pretty smart. We will not launch until at least 90% of users confirmancies. to follow right so we're starting to say hey 90% have to say yep it is easier that means we're probably going to be a little more iterative and less purely waterfall right because to me that says hey we're not going to launch so we're going to let them see it get the feedback and change it let

see it and then we'll launch right it'll be completed within 12 weeks so we can put all those together so let's talk about and part of the process for us whether you're a full-time project manager you're a nurse or you're a construction worker you're whomever that was asked to take on a project you're a firefighter that's now in charge of changing something in your department. Here are quick ways to put this together. I talk about charters. Again, there's examples that I have in the book. But charter kickoff notes.

Kickoff is when you kick off, you start the project. You have a meeting. You're talking through it, right? Include the intent. Read it out loud. We will do this. We will not do this. Make it super obvious that the leader's intent is this.

Here's what we're going to do. Here's what we will not do. Any questions, right? You're going to have a task board or a backlog. Backlog is an agile thing. If you're not familiar with that, you're going to paste the definition of done, right? in each story template or we're going to have a list of it or we're going to show it on the screen and a zoom call right if you're hybrid or in person however you want to do it but make that

look like here's here's done here's all the thing so kind of in scope if you will from the charter the timeline of the sprint plan right we're going to have smart objectives at the top positive negative guardrail so it's kind of a blend of a hybrid that I'm kind of mentioning but the smart objectives the way I like to do of a basic charter is you know and kind of an updated thing that I've had to revise as I've learned new techniques and realize what's working well it's not is what's the intent, what does done look like, what are the objectives, what's our high level schedule when we, you know, we think it's going to be six months, right? What's our budget? What's in scope? What's out of scope? Who are the resources we're pretty sure we need? And you can fit all that

on one document, one slide, one system you use online and it's all right there. And so when I kick off a project, I'm going to have that on the screen or in the room or however you're going to present it and I'm going to talk through all of it. And it's going to be super clear. It's going to be with the sponsor there with the business owner with other key stakeholders and we're going to lay it out so right from the start and we know things will change during the project but right from the start everyone understands the intent definition of done and the smart objectives so progress is not just about moving forward so we're going to talk about that right it's about moving forward in the right direction because we can measure numbers and I've talked about this before but that doesn't mean

we're actually making progress right a project can feel busy but if the updates aren't tied to the intent or the definitions have done then the activity may not add up to the result We can be reporting on something, but it has nothing to do with what we're, you know, guided to do or not do. But we need to track what matters, communicate it in a way that builds trust, right? It also means staying honest about where things stand so problems can be solved early. I've talked about that here on the podcast before, too. Transparency, objectivity, openness, that's key. And as we measure, we need to do this with both our hard skills and soft skills, right?

It's not enough to only track timelines, budgets, and story points. we also need to pay attention to the team dynamic, right? How are they doing? What's the emotional state of our stakeholders? Are they engaged or they checked out? Do they understand the value of the work? And sometimes when we're on the far end of getting technology together, we don't see the user end, whether they bought it in a store,

or they're using it in a hospital or on a construction site or in the firehouse or the precinct, right? So we need to make sure they also understand, what's the value of all this work that you're doing? Or do they feel like they're just going along for their ride? So I think if we can combine, those human signals with some of the hard data we should be tracking. And again, I'll have ideas about that in the book, and I'll talk about those here more on the podcast, is it lets

us make better decisions during the project, right? It helps us improve our own processes during the project after and beyond. It also provides visibility into how we're really doing against that intent, the leader's intent, against the smart objectives, and our definition have done. So let's talk about kind of how we can report a very basic way, right? So we're going to report against what we define, not against our guesses. Okay. So what happened? We finished 10 tasks that met the definition of done. That's pretty legit. That's super simple. It's straightforward, right? What's coming next? Well, we'll complete the review stage with three more deliverables. And what do we need? We need feedback from two stakeholders this week, right? That's one thing you

always want to include when you're being succinct and asking for something is either say, I need your help are. I don't. And when you ask for help, be specific on what you need help with. Right. The metrics that I think we should track with the project, we've talked about this system, right, that's going to reduce time, is how compliant are we with the definition of done? Are these tasks directly tied to it? And that can be very subjective, not as objective. Are we making progress toward those smart objectives? So those specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-based objectives, are we truly tying our work to that? How's our progress? often shows up as percent complete in a project plan.

It's kind of high level, but it's good to dive into those a little bit more. And then what's the feedback or acceptance from users or stakeholders? Are they grumbling? And they're like, I don't want this to happen, but maybe the whole organization made the decision. Or are they like, I love it. Thanks for letting us to give feedback. I love this iterative process, right? All good things to track.

The feedback is hard later in a project, if you're doing like a survey or something, but during getting this feedback, having these feedback sessions or work sessions or standups or however you're going to do is very valuable, right? And so how can you measure this progress on a regular basis? What are some tools and techniques? Well, a daily stand up when you're really in the thick of it, in the building, especially when you're getting feedback from stakeholders. And this is a challenge of getting to more agile stuff and scrum and things like that,

is what are any quick blockers or definition of done check, right? And you can do that daily. So let's say you're doing a week or two sprint, which means you need time from people every day, from the people you're building this thing for, which is hard to do. And from your team, your IT team or whoever's building this. but you need to know what are the challenges for us? What are the blockers that are keeping us from doing something?

And hey, users that are going to use this, are we headed to the right direction? Right. And then once a week, send a one page summary, right? Here's where we are with the intent, the status, the compliance, stoplight status, red, yellow, green, right? You had red is, we're critical or something similar at risk means, you know, we've got some issues, but we're working through it. Red typically to mean, means like we need some help or we're working through where we don't quite have a plan to address these things yet. and then green, doesn't mean it's perfect, but it's doing pretty well. We need to have regular reviews, right?

Not just for our project, but compared with others. Talk to our other folks and the programs and portfolio of projects we work, right, and confirm that it's still valuable, right? Especially as we look at a whole portfolio and our backlog and things like that. So I've talked a lot. Let's share an action that I think would be helpful for you, the listener, and probably your teams. Right. Write your leader's intent in one sentence using we will and we will not.

what I talked about earlier in the podcast. Rewind if you need to hear it again. But just keep it simple. As a leader or a hypothetical leader, right, if you're thinking about how can I help my sponsor of this project do this, ask them, what do you want us to do? What will we do? And what do you not want us to do? Right. List three non-negotiables for your definition of done for some project that you're going to do or a hypothetical one. And then write a few smart objectives, right, that include both. And I talk about these. If you go to peopleprocessprogress.com and talk about the seven pillars of project management. These are there so you can dive deeper into that and post it where your team will see it daily, right? Or whether you use some online board, a whiteboard,

if you're still in the office, going back and forth, whatever that is. It's very important, but it's good to run through these and do these for each project, regardless of the size of it, because that's so you get the muscle memory and the reps. So in closing, let's, I mean, we know, we're going to keep people first, right? We're going to use a process that fits our current team on our current project or current initiative, and we'll take from other stuff, but it doesn't have to be the same every single time. Some companies, I think, are too rigid that way. Some maybe aren't rigid enough. So let's find that middle ground. And we want to see progress, right? We're going to have numbers, but we want to know that our teams getting along, that their tempo's good,

that they're working together. They're not just silent on every call and you're the only one talking if you're the facilitator. That's progress you can see or progress that you're not making that you can see that you need to do something about, along with the data and their percentages and all that kind of stuff. I know I've mentioned it a few times, but if you want more field tested tools and checklist, not just for me, but that I've learned throughout my time from other mentors, but they're in one place. They're in either Kindle, paperback, hardcover.

Check out the book. People Process Progress of Project Management on Amazon. You'll find very practical resources you can apply right away. It's not a certification book. It's not to get ready for certification. It's a field guide to help you actually lead projects that work and keep it simple. and use what's right for the time. So you can also connect with me on Instagram, LinkedIn,

YouTube, Spotify, and X. On Instagram and X, I'm at Penel KG, YouTube, it's People Process Progress. Go figure. I'm Kevin Penel on LinkedIn. You can listen to this podcast on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, all the places podcasts are, right under People Process Progress.

So let's keep the conversation going, share what's working for you, and learn from one another. Until next time, remember, keep those people first, align your processes, and we'll all make progress together. Got to be doing.

Thank you.