By Paul Plotczyk
With more than 25 years experience helping organizations keep projects on scope, on time and on budget we have arrived at some universal truths about project management that can make or break a project.
Read more to find out how you can apply those truths to your next project whether it is a $10K marketing project or a $10 billion dollar engineering project.
Project Savvy
Over 25 years ago, WSA began providing project consulting services for organizations which designed and executed some of the largest and most complex engineering and construction projects – Engineering Marvel-type projects - around the globe. Our mission was to keep those projects on scope, on time and on budget.
We then worked to apply the knowledge and best practices we learned on these massive engineering projects to help organizations “project-ize” their work. These organizations looked at most of the necessary tasks – creating a market strategy; designing a shift coverage plan; outlining a fulfillment process, etc. – as a project.
The reason we were able to transfer this knowledge and experience so successfully is that at the end of the day – A Project is a Project is a Project.
A Project is a Project is a Project
While at first glance executing a new product launch may seem very different from building an oil refinery in Algeria they share both the basic ingredients of a project:
- Resource Requirements
- Budget/Financial Plan
- Schedule
- Start Date
- Completion Date
And the basic problems of a project:
- Scope Creep
- Lack of Alignment
- Budget Overruns
- Missed Deadlines
- Poor Teamwork
What Makes a Project Successful?
Over the years, we have been frequently called into projects that have gone off the rails. This usually means some combination of an out-of-control budget, a schedule in shambles, very unhappy client(s) or a collection of people who have more in common with a warring street gang than a functioning team.
We became very curious about what makes any given project successful. We discovered that there are 6 key issues that every successful project must resolve. And that these issues are most effectively handled through some type of structured team conversation designed to address the performance challenges and relationship issues required to build a successful project team. We call this type of activity Team Chartering.
Project Team Chartering
Chartering helps the project team put the foundation for success in place. Sounds simple, but too often this important foundational step gets missed. The process helps the team:
- Define its Purpose
- Set Goals and Measures
- Identify Critical Success Factors
- Assign Roles and Responsibilities
- Design a Conflict and Risk Mitigation Process
- Develop all of the Operating Guidelines Essential for Success
6 Keys to Project Success
The primary goal of a Chartering session is to establish the guidelines that govern team and individual behavior and set the stage for success. Project Teams can reach this level of alignment by answering 6 Critical Questions:
1. Why should we work together? (What is our “performance challenge?”)
The number one reason projects fail is that there is no alignment on project success. Addressing this question early lays good footing for the foundation, produces alignment on the definition of project success, and typically includes:
- Guiding Principles (values)
- Technical Objectives
2. How will we know we are successful? (What must be accomplished for us to determine the project is successful? How will we know we are headed in the right direction?)
Addressing this question produces Critical Success Factors, or measures and milestones that a team can use to assess progress, and to stay on track.
3. What are the limits of our authority? (What are we accountable for?)
The scope of authority is an important factor for internal and external teams to be clear about. What decisions can they make and what has to be pushed up?
4. What are our roles? (What is expected of each individual on the project? What do we expect from one another? What will each person stand for?)
Not having answered this question is the number two reason a project will fail. Clarity about roles and expectations is critical to successful project execution.
5. How will we execute our work and function as a team? (How will we respond to barriers and conflict outside of the project team? Inside the team?)
This addresses the “technology” of team work and insures that the work the team was formed to produce gets done. Operating guidelines, codes of conduct, decision making strategy, risk mitigation and conflict resolution processes, as well as work processes and practices all get addressed here.
6. What will our relationships with one another be like? How will we develop trust? Commitment? (What level of trust is expected? How will we develop and maintain it?)
It is important for the project team to have a method to assess the progress of the work, as well as a way for team members to give one another feedback on how they are working together. This step becomes even more important when a project team is comprised of people from competing firms. Also, if internal teams are positioning for more budget, avoiding additional layoffs, etc., competition can create problems when trying to develop trust and an aligned project team.
Conclusion
In these brutal economic times more and more of our clients see projectizing their work as a way of optimizing productivity and profitability.
Projectizing work provides more control for the person responsible for the task or project, enables budgets and schedules to be created easily, and facilitates the allocation and tracking of people, bringing them in only when needed.
Realizing the potential benefits of projectizing work really does start by answering these 6 key questions in a team chartering session. Chartering is one of the best examples of “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Regardless of the size, scope and budget of your project, don't skip this step.
As always, we would be delighted to talk to you about any challenges you might be facing with your projects. Please feel free to call me directly at 781-343-4005 or email me at paulp@wsa-intl.com
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