How to Lead the Perfect Project - The 3 Levels Framework

Leading a smooth project is a beautiful experience.

Everyone is clear on their goals and outputs, perfectly aligned on objectives and execution. The scope rarely creeps and nearly every risk is accounted for. You’re even ahead of schedule, which almost never happens.

Sounds like PM nirvana right?

Sadly, this fairy tale is more the exception than the norm. Most teams I come across struggle with wasted time going back and forth, scope confusion, and more “gaps” than I can count. It’s like paddling a boat with massive holes…it’s not going anywhere yet everyone’s “busy” and exhausted.

The recurring pattern is misalignment on intent and lack of focus and discipline during project meetings, leaving teams confused and managers stuck in constant course correction. And when a leader forced to micromanage, he’s definitely not looking where the ship’s heading.

Fortunately, filling these gaps isn’t rocket science. It’s just a matter of matching the right level of communication at the right time to the right people.

I use the Three-Levels Framework to guide the flow of meetings and keep everyone on point from beginning to end. Today, I’ll break down how to use each level and at the end give you a simple blueprint to run the perfect project.

Before we start, I highly recommend you leverage the Why What How Framework at every level. This is a truly deadly leadership and project management combo.

High-Level Communication

High level communication is focused on org needs and possibilities rather than concrete execution details. It’s gathering information to understand issues from a strategic 30,000-foot perspective. Creative problem solving and ideation is needed because the uncertainties run high. Meetings at this stage are about evaluating variables, risks and opportunities to clarify goals, generate hypotheses and hash out options.

Say you’re trying to implement a new CRM (customer relationship management) system for your company. At the high level, meetings focus on understanding why a CRM is needed in the first place, what sort of problems it would solve, and how it would increase org metrics like sales team performance leading to increased revenue and customer retention.

Different CRM providers like Hubspot, Salesforce, and Notion would also be researched, but no decisions are necessarily made at this stage. The expected output is simply to clarify objectives and narrowing the range of choices, rather than making firm plans.

Cruising at the conceptual level allows for creative, big picture thinking without prematurely falling into low-level specifics. The goal is to collect and analyze information to identify patterns and opportunities in order to make informed decisions about which path to take going forward.

Mid-Level Communication

Mid-level communication serves as a bridge between strategy and action. The focus shifts to project planning and delegation. Meetings at this stage flesh out the details of how strategic decisions will be implemented. The expected output of a mid-level discussion is a plan that’s ready to be passed off to the right people to execute.

Going back to our CRM example, a mid-level discussion occurs the decision has been made on which software provider to use. Say the execs chose Hubspot over Salesforce, the next meeting would then center on how to integrate Hubspot to existing systems and workflows. This includes planning touch points and identifying who needs training. The goal is to develop a blueprint before delegating tasks, so that the project isn’t haphazardly put together and create more headache down the line.

Creativity is still involved in mapping out the process, but there’s a lot less chaos compared to high-level strategy. Mid-level communication brings strategic concepts into the tangible realm by defining the scope of work and preparing projects for hand off to ground-level executors of the company.

Low-Level Communication

At the low-level, we focus on execution and specifics. It's where strategic plans turn into concrete results. This level is characterized by syncs on day-to-day tasks, adhering to timelines, and solving operational issues as they come up. Meetings at this stage have clear objectives and focus on hands-on coordination. Chaos is minimized as the possibilities have been narrowed down significantly and everyone is sprinting towards the deadline.

When it comes to our CRM example, low-level meetings assign specific sprint goals to system integration engineers to install Hubspot according to mid-level project plans. After the system is live, you’d setup training sessions with sales leads to ensure that the right people are using the new tool.

Creativity and conceptual thinking take a back seat at this level. The focus is on operational execution according to predetermined specifications with clear milestones and metrics. This allows for scalable replication of standardized processes across the entire org.

Flying Through The Levels Like a Pro

Just like how changing altitude too quickly in an airplane can cause physical sickness, constant shifting between high-level conceptual discussions to low-level tactical details (or vice versa) is mentally jarring.

It’s called Altitude Sickness, and it’s the best way to derail meetings.

Maintaining the right altitude or level of discussion for a given meeting or conversation prevents this cognitive switching cost and allows participants to stay focused on the task at hand.

This is easier said than done, however, because meetings are inherently chaotic and nonlinear. Fortunately, just the awareness of these levels already puts you ahead. Here are a few ways to fly through the levels like a pro.

First, explicitly state the intended level of discussion upfront to ensure everyone understands the scope and expected outcomes. It’s that simple, but most people just jump right in and wonder why the conversation turns into a roller coaster.

Second, pay close attention to the type of questions asked. While they’re typically a sign that everyone is engaged, questions also have the power to redirect people's mental focus and derail a meeting if not properly managed.

A low-level question asked during high-level discussions forces everyone to stop the current train of thought to answer the new question, causing altitude sickness. It’s up to the meeting facilitator to gently redirect questions that veer too high or low by parking them for later.

Third, set boundaries and don’t get pulled into irrelevant details. If discussions start to descend or ascend prematurely, you can bring the conversation back to the appropriate conceptual level by recapping the overall strategic context and goals.

Lastly, being aware of the mindset of the participants is key to anticipating who will speak from what level of strategic understanding. If you invited a system integration engineer to a C-suite meeting to provide feasibility feedback, then it’s up to you to ask him questions that illuminate unknowns relevant to high level decisions.

Here’s What Will Happen

If you do the above properly, you’ll begin to make smoother progress. Once high-level strategy and decisions are set, the next meeting shifts to mid-level planning and delegation. Subsequent execution-heavy sprints with daily check-in’s track all the way to project completion. This is the natural flow of a well run project.

Just be sure to close the feedback loop after crossing the finish line to gauge whether your low-level execution accomplishes the original high-level purpose.

Once Hubspot is installed and the sales team has been using it for a month, check the revenue numbers for signs of growth and meet with sales leads to gather qualitative feedback from the team. If things are humming along, pat yourself on the back - mission successful! If not, start systematically troubleshooting from the ground-up.

By clearly defining objectives, setting expectations, and managing the flow of questions and input, teams can travel up and down levels fluidly without attitude sickness and confusion. Leaders will be able to delegate effectively and free up their time to steer the ship. Every conversation is aligned with the org’s overarching goals, ultimately accelerating the process from ideation to execution in even the most chaotic environments.

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