Sharpshooters and Guided Missiles
Projects fail despite all out best efforts - the problem is that we are working harder to solve the wrong problem. Most Project Management disciplines treat the problem like a crack shot shooting a high powered gun. This approach is excellent if the platform on which you are standing, and the target both stand still. Unfortunately, they don't - platforms and targets move. What we need then, is an approach to project management that is more like a guided missile.
This paper is not dismissive of traditional Project Management disciplines - on the contrary, the tools and techniques they contain are absolutely essential for successful project management. What this paper is saying, however, is that alone, they are not enough. The 7 steps proposed below, when used in conjunction with traditional Project Management tools and techniques will significantly increase your project hit rate.
7 Steps Towards Successful Projects
The Project Sponsor, of course, remains a key stakeholder. The Project Sponsor role accrues most profitably to the stakeholder who:
stands to gain the most if the project succeeds,
stands to lose the most if the project fails, and
controls the resources, or has the means to con 141c26b trol the resources, necessary to deliver the project.
The success of the sponsor role (and hence the project) is dependant, in part, on the extent to which these attributes coincide in one person. This is one reason why projects in which the sponsor is forced to use 'free' internal resources have less chance of success - the sponsor lacks adequate leverage to control these resources.
Identify all the stakeholders. A stakeholder is anyone who has an interest in seeing the project succeed or fail. There are essentially two types of stakeholders:
Many stakeholders are both outcome and process stakeholders.
It is important to identify all of both types of stakeholders. It is also important to not just recognise the obvious stakeholders identified in the project management literature, such as the project sponsor and project manager. Stakeholders such as unions, community leaders, end users, etc., should all be listed.
Correctly identifying all of the stakeholders is the first and most important step towards project success. Why? Because "project success is and can only be defined by the stakeholders." If you don't know who the stakeholders are, you won't be able to find out how they define success. If you can't find out how they define success, you have little chance of achieving it - it is hard to hit a target you can't identify, whether you are a guided missile or a sharpshooter!
Determine what all of the stakeholders' expectations of the project are. The next step is to find out from all of the stakeholders how they define project success. Some useful questions include:
Try not to limit yourself to tangible aspects only. Understanding your stakeholders' emotional and reputational stakes in the project may be just as important as their financial stakes.
It is also important to try to establish which stakeholders do or don't trust which other stakeholders, and why. When such mistrust is uncovered, try to find out the history behind it. Even if spending time on those historical issues is not part of your project mandate, you will be well advised to at least spend the time trying to understand them. Whatever you do, don't expect your stakeholders to leave their baggage at the project's door.
Describe the project objectives in a way that incorporates the different expectations and concerns of all of the stakeholders. Most projects begin with a clear definition of the project's objectives. All too often, however, only those of the most powerful stakeholder (often called the Project Sponsor) are included. This reflects an attitude of "he who holds the power determines the agenda". Whether or not power does or even ought to allow one stakeholder's expectations to hold sway over those of the others is neither here nor there - the fact is that authoritarianism seldom increases a project's chances of being successful. Stakeholders who do not feel their voices have been heard may, consciously or sub-consciously, sabotage the project.
Keep all of the stakeholders talking to each other about the project. Try to surface and talk about the concerns in non-threatening ways. A good change agent or other facilitator is essential to this process. This person is not necessarily the same person as the project manager. Don't allow unmentionables to develop. Try and surface them if they already do exist. Once your stakeholders are no longer willing to discuss the project with each other, your chances of success fade away.
Plan to address all of the stakeholder concerns early on. Allocate time and effort for stakeholder management, don't just hope they go away by themselves if you ignore them - chances are they'll only get worse.
Be constantly alert for signs of stakeholder expectations or concerns that have not yet been voiced. One project manager counted the number of pizza boxes in the bin near the software development department every morning. The more boxes there were, the more software programmers had worked late the night before in order to get the work done, and the greater the probability of missing deadlines became. The pizza boxes indicated that the software programmers (key process stakeholders on the project) were running into difficulties, even though they were too proud to admit it or felt they would be prejudiced if they did.
People can be funny that way. What they are prepared to say is often only a small subset of what they believe or act on. Sometimes what they say is almost the exact opposite of what they feel and do. Also, in many organisations and relationships there are one or more undiscussable subjects. Sometimes the participants know about them, other times they don't. As a project manager, you merely need to be aware that there may be more to your project than what people are prepared to discuss. Some clear indicators of unspoken stakeholder expectations or concerns include:
When these signs start to show, it is important to try to uncover the underlying changing expectations and concerns.
Repeat steps 1 - 6 regularly! Stakeholders change during projects, and so do their expectations. Change occurs at at least 3 levels:
The more frequently you can cycle through the process of identifying and addressing stakeholder concerns, the greater your chances of successfully completing your project become.
People are capable of achieving amazing feats together. The hard part is not the achieving, but the togetherness. If you follow the 7 steps outlined above, you will maximise your chances of getting your stakeholders to work together, rather than against each other, on your project. If you do, achievement is likely to follow much more easily.
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