Objective: to provide an adaptive style of project management to suit any given project
Prince2, Agile, Scrum, APM, PMI and many others all provide prescriptive project management techniques, and they all claim to be based upon project management best practices. Confused? Then read on!
All of the above have toolsets that are unique to themselves hence why we pay large amounts of money in attending their specific training courses to attain a "recognised" certification which looks great on the CV.
However, you have to ask could you, would you, or should you, even, use one particular technique on one particular project? Probably not.
The business environment dictates that it is the doing that is required, not necessarily the administration of a project. The perception is that spending too long in administering a project only delays delivery. Sometimes though, on the other hand, a project may require more time in the detailed planning and analysis than it requires in delivery.
So, this leads onto which methodology to use. Your organisation may well lean towards Prince2 as it's preferred methodology; if you are an American organisation, then you probably prefer the PMI toolset.
Note the word toolset in the last sentence. That is exactly what I am trying to say. Project management techniques should be considered to contain a toolset. Each has their tools from which the discerning project manager should choose the relevant tool for their project. Open up one technique, and you reveal a toolset, just like the tool case in your garage or workshop. Which tool to use? This is where experience comes in.
For example: You have walked into a project that is failing; it is over budget, late and morale is low. Your job is to turn it around. What do you do? I am an engineer by trade, I tend to go and get a coffee first, think about the problem and try and pick the right set of tools to use! (This is a tried and tested engineering fault finding/design technique and one that works well for me!)
My first tool that I would choose in this situation is communication; find out what the situation is; then, I would look at planning, and this may well contain a mix and match of Prince2's Product Breakdown planning and Agile's planning techniques, coupled with Scrum's daily meeting methodology. Personally, I would only use the daily meeting until the project is under control, but that is down to personal preference.
Then, I would review the project delivery against the business case I assume that all project's have this at their core. If not, then update your CV, get yourself onto several internet job-boards, and run because you are on a doomed project!!
Another example: You have been asked to deliver a brand new product, you have been given timelines, budgetary constraints, and expected quality criteria. What do you do? Again, go and get a coffee and think about what you are being asked to achieve. 10 minutes thinking time won't hurt anyone.
Ok, now you've thought about what is being asked of you, what do you do? You choose the relevant tools that are available to you. Look in your toolbox(es). So, planning, what would you choose? In my case, I would look at Prince2, again, product based planning and plan the project into stages. Look at the first stage, what is it to achieve? Ok, start planning in as much detail as you can. You know what you need to achieve in stage 1 before stage 2 can start.
But, here's a slight change from the Prince2 technique, utilise the Agile technique of only planning for the next 3-4 weeks in detail. How can you plan something in detail 6 months out? Generally, you cannot as external influences will change.
Review your plans on a weekly basis. You will soon develop a great looking Gannt chart!!
Do you need to have daily meetings? Maybe, but right now, I doubt it. Or, maybe, short 15 minutes first thing, as prescribed in the Scrum technique. Yes, regular meetings to start with, say twice a week, until the project gets established, then, down to once a week. Every week you should review progress and plan for the following week's activities. Once you get into a routine, this should take no longer than an hour meeting once a week to achieve and maybe a further hour to update your plans.
How much detail is enough? Depends upon the project. Do you need to mention a task such as "Call XXX at 3.30pm on Friday the 5 th ." No. You should know you need to call XXX to get the job done. Although you might want to prepare an agenda for the call that details your objectives and desired outcome.
What's next? Well, other than building your project team, assigning tasks, not much other than delivery!! Other than including in the project start-up stage, again Prince2 bias here, all of the relevant tracking tools that you need, such as a cost spreadsheet, project initiation document, quality plans, RAID log, etc etc etc.
Summary: What I am trying to get across is that good project management is about delivering and using the most appropriate tools in doing so. I have used the Scrum and Agile techniques without realising I did. Since I realised what I had done, I changed my CV and funnily enough I tend to get a lot more calls from recruiters!! I don't really know why this is. And when I put on my Six Sigma experience, WOW!! I get too many calls preventing me doing any work!!
Should "Situational Project Management" be taken seriously? Of course it should. Is it? No, as there is no course for it; it is something that you learn through the old school of "Hard knocks", or the "School of life".
How large a toolset should I have? Well, depends on you. Biggest isn't always best! It's knowing how to use it that counts. And be confident too. Guess who has a small toolset!!
Good luck!!
Peter is a Chartered Engineer, Prince2 Practitioner and
ITIL Foundation certified senior project and programme manager with over 20
years experience in delivering high contract value and leading edge
business-critical technology projects within the private sector throughout the
UK, Europe and the Middle-East.
For further information how Situational Project Management can help you and your project, please e-mail Peter at peter.genet@btinternet.com
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