The Facts     –      The Philosophy     –     The Results

The Facts

Laura Leibowitz got her first taste of business at an early age, starting a club at the age of 10 in her home town of Grand Rapids, Michigan.  This brought with it lessons in Marketing, Accounting, publishing, research, archiving, and public relations.  This club is still prosperous today with Laura at the helm, having grown to nearly 3,500 members in over 25 countries, and is regarded as one of the premier organization in nostalgia research.

Laura started working in radio at the age of 15, joining a public radio station to host shows ranging from nostalgia and old radio comedy to talk shows about teenage issues and challenges. She also served one term as the station’s Board Secretary.  This experience brought its own set of lessons, including:  public speaking, fundraising, facilitation, parliamentary procedure, and documentation.

Laura pursued her undergraduate degree at Purdue University (Bachelor of Science, Mathematics with minors in Business and Radio/TV/Film) and her M.B.A. in Finance and Economics at Indiana University.  She continued with her passion for radio, working at multiple commercial and public stations both on air and behind the scenes.

The lure of San Francisco and no more shoveling snow was a powerful motivator, and Laura made her way to the Bay Area in 1991.  She began her career in Biotech Research as a Clinical Systems Analyst, providing database support and drug management for the largest Phase 3 drug trial to date.

Seeking to expand on her technical capabilities, Laura moved to AirTouch Cellular (then PacTel) in 1993.  First working on Decision Support Systems for valuing PCS licenses in the first round of auctions, Laura quickly learned the business of wireless communications.  This progressed to testing enhanced wireless services, such as Voice Mail and Call Screening.  It was here that Laura got her first chance at Project Management, managing three simultaneous software development efforts for AirTouch’s National Account customers.

Laura continued in Project Management at AirTouch, Globalstar (its satellite phone division), and Vodafone (AirTouch’s parent corporation) developing new services and improving existing ones.  During this time she became known as a vendor rehabilitator, diagnosing the source of disconnect and helping both vendor and customer to work together effectively.  Over this time, she drew on her vendor experience to develop a systematic approach to vendor selection that helped reduce the selection time from months to weeks.

In 2003, Laura started Innovative Project Management and began offering her Project Management and Vendor Management services as an independent contractor.  She lives in the San Francisco Bay area, and is the proud parent of six beautiful rabbits.

The Philosophy — in Laura’s words

I have heard of a number of seminars on the “human factor” of Project Management.  This always makes me laugh;  taking the “human factor” out of Project Management is like taking the stove and sink out of a kitchen.  Without people, your project schedule just sits and looks at you.

Good project management is primarily about people, starting with your customer.  You need to understand what it is your customer wants, why they want it, and be able to see it from their point of view.  Listen to what they need as they understand it;  if you come in thinking you’re the White Knight and forcing a solution on them, you may have a rude awakening later.  As you go through development, you will be faced with various decisions about designing the system, whether to include a feature, or how fast the system should work.  Understanding your customer’s viewpoint will give you a significant advantage to insure that you’re making the right decisions that will ultimately make them happy.

The people factor continues with your team–understanding each person’s strengths, what they want to be doing, and what motivates them.  It’s easy to ask a programmer to write code, or have a Business Analyst create a specification for you.  But to really maximize your results, you need to understand more about your team members’ capabilities and desires beyond their basic job description.

For example, three administrative assistants were assigned to my team to explain the process of logging time/expenses and rolling it up into the overall budget.  Once we documented the process, I asked them to help redesign it into something more efficient.  They were some of the most enthusiastic members of the team, being empowered to structure their own work process.  Their attention to detail also made them perfect system testers.  The developer was a Manager who still loved to do coding, and he was delighted to get his hands back into the nuts and bolts of the system.  Almost everyone on the team was doing something that was not normally their role, but something that they really wanted to do and enjoyed doing.  Not only did we deliver a great product that people liked, but I had people asking, “Can I please be on your team?  I hear it’s a great place to be.”

The Project Management Institute is right on the money of advocating up-front planning and requirements gathering.  It is amazing to see how often in the hurry to “fix” something, many companies rush to find a “magic bullet” and end up shooting themselves in the foot with it.  I was once asked to evaluate a system overhaul for a Financial tool because of a large number of unpaid invoices.  Once we looked at the process, more could be gained in the short term by adjusting the Purchasing processes rather than making any major technical changes.  Had we not done the analysis, we could have launched a series of potentially expensive technical development efforts that ended up not really solving the problem.

My philosophy on vendor selection and management is laid out in detail in Looking for Mr. Goodvendor.  In short, I have seen various people treat vendors as adversaries or people who “should do their bidding”.  Once a vendor is selected, I believe in fostering a partnership.  In essence, make your vendor look good and they will make you look good.  Like any relationship, there are going to be difficult patches;  but you usually both want the same goal–a successful system deployment.  Working together will get you there much faster than laying blame, and the responsibility of fostering a good relationship is as much on the customer’s side as the vendor’s.

I have always believed in having as much fun as possible in the workplace while still getting a lot done.  You have to keep good balance in all areas:  work and personal life, seriousness and amusement, challenges and rewards.  Always remember to occasionally step back and laugh at yourself, and celebrate joy where you find it.

The Results — in customers’ words

Laura is an excellent partner and peer in the organization. We have worked together on multiple efforts in which Laura regularly demonstrates a customer focus and desire to craft win-win solutions. She is responsive, detail oriented, and follows through on efforts until complete. – Colin Anderson

Laura is an incredibly strong partner who is talented, competent and a great partner. She thinks strategically while delivering day to day results. Laura is influential and is a seasoned professional. She has integrity, ethics and is a wonderful person to work with. I highly recommend Laura! – Patty Ashauer

Throughout my working experience with Laura, I found her to be extremely knowledgeable about her space and was able to provide me and my team guidance when necessary. Laura is also very easy to work with and welcomes collaboration which makes interactions with her very successful and pleasant. – Armin Safarians

Laura is a hard working, honest and professional person whom I’ve interacted with on several occasions. She’s honorable and a dedicated employee to the organization and is well respected in her line of work. – Larry Pingree

I worked with Laura for many years at AirTouch.  She has a keen knowledge of wireless, both from a technical and business standpoint.  She’s a diligent Project Manager and a strong team leader.  I remember that she was a tough negotiator and never left a stone unturned when it came to addressing details that lead to a successful product launch.  Her strong Project Management skills can be applied to any industry.  She’s also a kind and personable woman who is a joy to know. – Caprice Crebar, Boston Communications Group

I enjoy working with Laura.  She is thoughtful and comprehensive in her approach to Project Management.  Laura is also action oriented, which really helps her team achieve their objectives.  Laura is collaborative by nature and communicates with team members in a direct but respectful manner.  Laura adds value to organizations by approaching her Project Management work in the integrated way she does. – (Executive associate, Biotechnology)

As a vendor representative, I worked closely with Laura on a major technology deployment project.  Laura, the client PM, had a precise yet engaging style of managing the vendor activity, combining clear communication with humor to make the work both productive and positive.  If you need creative and professional vendor management, I highly recommend Innovative Project Management. – Carol Seitz, (Telecom vendor)

I worked closely with Laura Leibowitz, who served as Project Manager on an ERP deployment.  As I devoted more time to bring Laura up to speed I noticed that not only did she learn exceedingly fast, she was also very quick to apply the lessons to begin contributing, significantly, almost from the get-go.  I highly recommend her. – Mark Hesch, (ERP vendor)

Laura’s excellent communication and organization skills make her an extremely valuable and effective Project Manager.  Her control of words and especially “quality of voice” can make her a very effective business development executive and convince even the most difficult clients.  Even more beneficial to team building and project success are her caring personality and ability to connect at a personal level. – Zafar Singhera, Vodafone

Laura Leibowitz is an outstanding Project Manager.  She understands technology and how to integrate it into your projects for successful completion. I highly recommend her to your team. – Tricia Hoekwater, Implementation Manager, Raine Media

Laura’s training is half computer geek, half standup comedian. – Henry Bartley, AirTouch