PROJECT MANAGEMENT
2 simple things project managers can do to avoid running in circles and feeding a monster while delivering a large project
In large organizations, it is not difficult to start spending considerable amounts of money on projects that are making little to no progress. This eventually becomes painfully visible at certain stages at which point the project receives a great deal of attention from executives as the organization collectively pulls together to bring things back on track and put the monster it created to bed.
Aside from the obvious “sub-optimal” use of company resources, this process also creates two side effects:
- It generates an internal lack of confidence in the organization’s own ability to deliver
- It creates pressure to demonstrate that the organization can deliver.
That pressure manifests itself in different ways. A common pattern is to create a sense of urgency to move things along quickly and hopefully produce visible results that will help reduce the pressure (aka lighting a fire under the team). Unfortunately, this rarely works if the underlying problems are not addressed.
Lack of appropriate framing and clear roles and responsibilities are the two most common underlying delivery issues
I have been in technology consulting for over 20 years, having worked for and with the top 5 consulting firms and large enterprises across most industries. The most common underlying problem I have seen over the years is simply the lack of appropriate framing early on; and lack of clear roles and responsibilities during execution. It may seem simplistic to blame the creation of a delivery monster on just two things, but you need to consider the negative cascading and cumulative effects that will take place— particularly on large enterprise-wide projects and when accelerated by that sense of urgency the leadership will light under everyone.
The reality is that without a clear approach and the right project structures in place to provide direction, the team becomes like firecrackers going in circles spending a lot of energy and money to make very little progress; as opposed to being that rocket 🚀 with a clear and straight direction everyone wished for.
It sounds simple, but the key is not to get yourself dragged into this pattern in the first place, because once you start, not only you don’t get anywhere but you eventually also drag your most talented people to rescue the project and tame the monster we created in the first place. Meanwhile, the next monster is in the works in the next meeting room.
It’s amazing how much of a difference it makes to do these two things before you move too far and start to accelerate (in the wrong direction)
- Have a solid and well-framed approach to start;
- Have clear roles & responsibilities during execution.
Those two things alone will go a long way to keep you from running in circles and having to take multi-million dollar monsters down.
Originally published at http://ornot.ca on September 2, 2012.
