Thursday 28 June 2012

Making It Happen


I see more and more recruitment adverts for people with experience in “project management” which tells me one thing – this is going to be more a part of management in the future as change becomes ever more prevalent and companies adapt to a faster pace. 

I’ve managed projects myself, and know others who are deeply knowledgeable in this art (or is it a science?), but what I’ve seen in my time is that you need to: 

Ask “Why Are We Doing This”?
Usually, projects have a reason – to improve efficiency, raise quality, increase revenues or profitability, introduce a new system, or any other number of purposes.  Make sure you know why you’re embarking on this adventure. 

Define the “Owner”:
Who owns the project (i.e. wants it done)?  This will usually be a head of department, function or company.  Can they make things happen if momentum is lost? 

Define The Objective:
How will you get there if you don’t know what the end result looks like and when it needs to be in place?  This is sometimes known as an overall specification and needs to be set firmly, but allow for unforeseen events.  I’ve seen cases where people jumped in without really asking “what do we want this to look like in the end?” and ended up “starting over”, going over budget, or both.  

Refine The Objective – Deliverables:
What is actually needed to make sure that the objective is achieved?  This could be premises, people, processes, systems, changes in the way the business does things - any number of items which all need to fit together by a certain time.   

Delivering the Deliverables:
What needs to happen to deliver each part of the project?  Break it down into steps (Post-It notes are great for this!).  Starting at the end and working backwards is the best way to do this. 

Allocate Timelines:
How long will each of the above take?  What resources are needed (people, systems, cash, equipment)?  Are they available?  How will you get them?  Do you need to hire in extra staff, plant/machinery?  How much will it cost?  This gives you your budget for the project. 

Establish Dependencies:
Does anything depend on something else happening first, or can it run “in parallel”?  If something needs to end before something else can start, how do you make sure that things proceed according to plan?  The “Critical Path” consists of the deliverables, targets or steps that must be delivered or met before others can begin.  Any one of these can derail the whole project. 

Contingency Planning:
What could go wrong?  How will you put it right?  What “early warning systems” can you put in place to tell you that you may have a problem before it becomes a crisis? 

Allocate Budget:
Everything costs time, money and effort.  How much will this be?  Will it all be worth the end result?  Sometimes, the cost outweighs the benefits and that’s a good reason not to proceed.  Allow room for “unforeseen expenses”.  Too many projects now come in over budget and behind schedule because of poor planning in the first place.

Allocate Responsibilities:
Who will do what and by when? Are they clear on what they have to do?   Do they have the tools and resources?  What do they do if something goes wrong? How do they report progress? Does everyone involved know who's doing what?

Get Support:
Get support – from management above (approval), those at the same level as you (agreement) and from those who report to you or are junior to you (acceptance).  This is where many projects founder due to lack of support or commitment from whichever level. 

And Finally...:
Projects don’t manage themselves.  Review progress regularly – not only of what has happened, but what is happening and what is due to happen.  How will you track progress?  What meetings will you hold, with whom and when?  What information will you need to track progress?  Who will deliver it, how and when?  Who will help make things happen if delays occur?  How will you measure success?  Establish an “early warning system” to alert you of potential problems before they become disasters so that you can allocate extra resources.


I have spent more than half my life working in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With more than 20 years in the world financial services industry running different service, operations and lending businesses, I started my own Performance Management Consultancy and work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email . My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services.

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