So many organizations are trying to figure out how to improve their project management processes and project management systems. Some are implementing project management offices, while others are attacking the problem by evaluating the overall organization’s project management maturity. In my experience, process change is difficult enough and organizations that try to deliver this change in the Big Bang approach rarely succeed.
My approach to improving project management processes within organizations is tackling the areas that are most important for the type of organization you work in. There is no one-size-fits-all solution. I believe there are four types of organizations, and each organization type will warrant a different focus on managing change.
· Customer focused
· Internally focused
· Vendor focused
· Virtually managed
Each of these types of organizations will have unique needs as it relates to project management processes and project management systems.
Customer focused organizations must focus more intently on customer communications and ensuring that the customer is clear in their roles and responsibilities. Too often project teams assume the customer’s experience with projects is the same as theirs and take for granted that extra care must be taken in managing customer communications and setting expectations with them.
Internally focused organizations, those that deliver the majority of their projects for internal customers, typically take for granted the impact of change to the organization. I’ve worked with organizations like this who act as if the internal customer knows exactly what is being delivered to them and ignore the project phase called “transition”. The transition phase of a project is from the point of project delivery to recipient adoption. No matter who your customer is, the success of the project is rarely determined at the point of project delivery. Success is measured when the objectives of the project are realized and that doesn’t happen until the recipients of the project have adopted the change. These organizations must implement processes to ensure this change is realized.
Vendor focused organizations will spend more time in managing vendor contracts, therefore, having an efficient vendor relationship and delivery process is key. Vendors must understand their responsibility and the project team working with these vendors MUST understand the contractual relationship that has been established. Without knowledge on both sides, conflict will arise. Those organizations that manage a large number of vendor relationships must have processes that ensure this information is known and understood in order to effectively deliver.
Any of the organization types previously discussed could also be virtually managed. Virtually managed organizations need to incorporate project management systems to allow for efficient team communication and sharing of information. These organizations rely heavily on in-direct communication. Without the face-to-face opportunities available to co-located teams, these organizations must have processes and procedures to allow for streamlined communications between team members. Tools such as instant messaging systems, bug tracking systems, work assignment systems and many others, should be evaluated for application.
As you can see, if we took a standard project management methodology and tried to apply it to these various organization types, the probability of success will be limited. For those of you that work in one or more of these types of organizations you can understand that focusing on key processes that can aide in your project success is something team members and management can rally around. It is process for the right reason.
Let me know what you think.
Diane Altwies
Diane
Altwies is the Chief Executive Officer of Core Performance Concepts
Inc. (CPC), a training and consulting firm with a proven track record of
delivering completed projects to the marketplace through effective
leadership of multi-disciplinary teams with a strong customer focus.