Posts Tagged ‘Through’

If you’ve ever been to the circus you’ve seen what I’m about to describe. A trainer walks into the center ring followed by several dogs who proceed to run up skinny ramps, up and down teeter-totters and jump through hoops. Unfortunately, the circus isn’t the only place I’ve seen this.

I was talking with a colleague the other day, and she suggested that 25-55 percent of most project requirements are unnecessary. In my opinion, she is in a position to know. Her job is to consult with project leaders and project management vendors all over the world. I must admit, although I personally believed that many project managers are compelled to force their teams to jump through a lot of hoops for "process" sake, I didn’t think it was that bad.

I myself have been forced to jump through what appeared to be meaningless hoops from time to time. What’s more, unlike the dogs at the circus, the hoops I was forced to jump through weren’t even for the entertainment of others (at least I hope they weren’t). I wonder how many of us have lost our way in the morass of process and lost track of the fact that projects are the vehicle we use to accomplish something. The processes we use should serve to make the complicated world of projects easier to navigate, not more convoluted and complicated.

I have often felt like we implement complicated processes for the sake of process—when much of the work we do doesn’t require such a heavy burden. Of course there are times when formal processes and governance are required for project success. However, it is incumbent upon us as project leaders to weigh the value of process against the value of providing value to our organizations quickly and often.

I suggest we consider a more flexible leadership approach. A simple project, that consists of a dozen or so simple steps in a "to do" list, neither diminishes the value of the project nor the skills of the project leader. In my opinion, the simplest solution that produces the most value is often the best. And, the project leader who recognizes that is worth his or her weight in gold.

Strategic Project Management

Building Skills For Business Recovery Through Project Management Training

Often when a recession strikes training budgets are unfortunately one of the first to be slashed, according to research that looks at previous recessions this is a fatal error! Trends show that companies who carry on investing in training are then in the healthiest position to gain competitive advantage when during recession recovery. Research from the OGC (Office of Government Commerce) also highlights one of the top reasons for project failure is poorly trained Project Managers when businesses often rely on successful projects & programmes to pull them through downturns and business change.

This view on training was recently hailed by an alliance consisting of some of the UK’s most senior business people including Sir Mike Rake, Chairman of BT group and the UK Commission for Employment and Skills. The alliance took the first-time move to issue a joint call via an open letter to employers advising them to invest in training during the downturn and to make it a top priority.
 
The letter stated “the skills of our people are our best guarantee of future prosperity – and the best investment a business can make in challenging times. We must not pay the price of failing to invest in the very talent on which our future will be built.”
 
This view was also supported by a recent report Nurturing Talent by Cranfield University which stated development of internal talent was a cost effective way to boost business performance during any period especially a downturn. The report also found that successful organisations were those that had invested in long-term focus on employee development.
 
A good example of this philosophy was demonstrated by an American based airline that trained its way out of the 2001 recession whilst still managing to make a profit.
 
By now the importance of well run projects should be obvious. It is critical that projects are delivered within time, cost and quality constraints. There is very little tolerance for delays or overruns. Customised project management training that caters for the exact needs of an organisation and its projects provides much better ROI over generic public courses. During the recession is the time to invest in your internal talent to ensure you come through strong.

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