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Each month, Tom Mochal, President of TenStep, Inc. presents project management tips and techniques for planning and managing a project. TenStep, Inc. has a comprehensive, scalable project management process called TenStep (www.TenStep.com), as well as a project lifecycle process called LifecycleStep (www.LifecycleStep.com). Tom has also published a popular book called Lessons in Project Management that can be purchased at www.TenStep.com. Pipeline readers receive 20% off any TenStep or LifecycleStep purchase by entering the coupon code of "Pipeline" in their purchase.
Most organizations recognize that they need to do a better job delivering their projects on schedule and within budget. So, why don’t all organizations do a better job of embracing project management principles? I have listed my ideas below:
Good Project Management Requires an Upfront Investment of Time and Effort. Many people consider themselves to be 'doers'. They might not be as comfortable with their planning skills. Many times there is a tendency to discuss a problem, and then go out and fix it. This works when you have a five-hour change request. It doesn't work on a 5,000 hour project. Resist the urge to jump right in. The project will be completed sooner if you properly plan it first and then have the discipline to manage the project effectively.
Your Organization is not Committed. It's hard to be a good project manager in an organization that doesn't value project management skills. For instance, if you take the time to create a Project Definition document and your client asks why you were wasting your time doing it, you probably are not going to be very excited about the planning process on your next project. To be most effective, the entire organization must support a common project management process.
You Don't Have the Right Skills. You may find that the lack of project management processes is not a matter of will, but a matter of skill. Sometimes people are asked to manage projects without the training or the experience necessary. In those cases, they struggle without the right tools or training to manage projects effectively. Your organization also may not have a Project Management Office (PMO) or other organization that is responsible for deploying these project management skills.
Senior Managers Think that Project Management is a Tool. When you discuss project management with some managers, they initially think you are trying to implement a tool that allows you to be a better project manager. Actually, if it were a tool, you might have more luck convincing them of the value. Even though some aspects of project management, like the creation and management of the workplan, may utilize a tool, that is not where the value of project management is. The value is in the disciplined utilization of sound, consistent processes.
You May Have Been Burned (or Buried) in the Past. When you start talking about processes, best practices and templates, some managers immediately start to think about overhead, delay and paperwork. They fail to immediately connect with the value that a methodology brings. A common criticism of methodology is that it is cumbersome, paper intensive and takes too much focus away from the work at hand. Sometimes this criticism is a legitimate concern, caused by not scaling the methodology appropriately to the size of your project. For instance, if you were required to develop a fifteen page Project Definition document even if your project is only 250 hours, you may have been turned off by project management methodology. However, this is not a methodology problem as much as it is a misapplication of the methodology.
There is a Fear of Control from Team Members. Many people like to be able to do their jobs creatively and with a minimum of supervision. They fear that formal project management techniques will result in tight controls that will take the creativity and fun out of the work. To a certain extent they are right. However, common processes and procedures eliminate some of the creativity in areas where you probably don't want it in the first place. You don’t need to be creative when dealing with scope change, for instance. You just need to follow the standard processes that are already in place.
There is a Fear of the Loss of Control from Management. If you really want to effectively implement a project management discipline at your company, you must give a level of control and authority to the project manager. Some organizations and middle managers do not want to lose that control. These middle managers may want project managers to coordinate the projects, but the middle manager wants to make all the decisions and exercise all the control. Formal project management will not be possible in organizations where this fear is prevalent.
Some of these fears are natural and logical, while others are emotional and irrational. Although these may be reasons to be hesitant about using formal project management, they must be overcome. The bottom line on project management is this - if the result of project management was that projects would take more time, cost more and have poor quality, it would not make sense to use it.
In fact, the opposite is true. Using sound project management techniques and processes will give you a higher likelihood that your project will be completed on time, within budget and to an acceptable level of quality.
That being said, when you use a project management process, be smart. Don't build the project management processes for a ten million dollar project if your project is only ten thousand dollars. Consider all aspects of how to manage a project and build the right processes for your specific project.
Would you like to receive project management tips every week? Sign up for the weekly TenStep Project Management Tip of the Week at www.TenStep.com. Read about Tom’s new book, Lessons in People Management, at www.tenstepstore.com/detail/2.14LessonsinPeopleMgmt.html.
