Three Steps to Project Management Heaven

Posted by Simon Harris on Mar 19, 2022 in PMChat Bloggers | Comments Off

For a very long time people have argued over what defines project success. An answer is simple – success like beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Five Successes Analysis of some beholder’s viewpoints show there are five themes in the key contenders for ‘the’ definition of a measure of success: The investor wants a return on their investment within the constraints that are their commercial reality – right thing done The PM’s boss wants the thing done right and to promises of time cost scope and quality – a quiet life The technicians in the team want an interesting challenge that grows their skill base – a better resume/cv The recipients of the project’s results don’t want change and disruption to comfortable day-to-day routine – most specifically negative effect on any bonuses or incentives The PM wants everyone else to be happy for as much of the time as possible, and hopefully everyone simultaneously when the project moves through implementation, closure and final payments (even for in-house notional-payment projects) So to reach success the steps are: Step 1 Establish in the heads of the stakeholders a shared understanding of what is wanted and what constraints really exist. This requires the investor’s presence to express what they want: What PRINCE2 ® calls a Product Breakdown Structure and PMBoK Guide ® calls a Work Breakdown is really useful here. What Dimension Four ® calls a Recognition Event® is even more useful. Encourage the debate about how to deliver within as many simultaneous real-world constraint as possible – this does not need the investor’s presence: what most of us think of as a work breakdown structure is useful here, so is a precedence diagram then a resource levelled Gantt or flow-chart or Kanban board are all useful here. Step 2 Take the trade-offs between concurrent, contradictory constraints back to the investor to arbitrate between choices.

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Three Steps to Project Management Heaven