If you present people with the 5 immutable facets of project management, you get a positive response:
- What does ‘done’ look like?
- How will we get to ‘done’
- Do we have the resources to get to ‘done’
- What obstacles will we encounter on the way?
- How do we know we’re making progress?
People want the answers, yet when you start talking about Project Management the room goes cold. Why? Where is the disconnect between information people want and the tool (Project Management) to obtain it?
The problem in my mind comes from bad project managers and the problems they cause. There are a number of common sins –
- Incomplete project management
- Schedule inflexibility
- Methodology mis-match
These are far too common and the problem is compounded by the fact that most management can’t easily tell the difference between these problems and shortcomings of project management in general. Without understanding of good project management or project managers by both management and team members, it is easier to blame the discipline instead of the individuals.
While each of these sins could use a post on their own, there are a few specific recommendations –
- Improved training of project managers. A certification is not enough, there needs to be continuing education and improvement.
- Training of managers in what good project management looks like. Either in the form of basic project management training or a course specifically for project sponsors, managers everywhere need to know what they need from project management and what they should be looking for.
- Include project management in retrospectives and project goals. Identify issues with project management and make improving it a part of the next project.
Project management can be a force for good, making teams more effective and improving project success rates, but only if we confront project manager shortcomings, not just project failures.