Context Matters

I find the most difficult aspect of being a project manager is articulating where the magic happens. What precisely makes some projects run smoothly, and others feel like you are dragging a tractor-trailer towards an elusive finish line?

We’ve all had this experience. The scope is documented, the Gantt chart is built. If the PMBOK editorial staff reviewed your project files they would find every recommended tool in place. The project is resourced and funded. Everyone is busy.

And yet.

Milestone targets come and go. Adjustments are made; priorities shifted. There is no obvious risk or gap to blame. The project manager is pulling overtime, running in circles, pestering, emailing, calling, cajoling. They come into my office breathless, exasperated. “I’m at my wits end! I’ve nothing left to give!”

In these situations, the root cause is almost always a misalignment of focus among the project team constituencies. The project team is focused on their general work, or on the universe of technical possibilities; the someday needs versus the right now needs. The Client team is excited about their own priorities, beyond this project, or outside of this business unit. And the PM is trying to pick up the slack, taking responsibility for deliverables and specifics that outside of their direct capability to do.

How do you course correct?

For a project to make forward progress, the project team constituencies must all do two things. First, we must agree on the goal. What exactly are we working to accomplish together, and when? Second, we must organize and prioritize our very finite time to focus on the critical path. This is where the magic happens.

My advice to that PM is this – our job is to communicate with clarity and precision. We must hold the team accountable for disciplined focus on the critical path. That is the value we bring to the show; we are the project conductors. The team needs our big picture understanding of the tasks and specifically their relationships to each other otherwise they will lose their way, veer off of the critical path, and the project will falter.

We cannot do the work for our team members. But we can enable them to them to make good decisions on how they spend their time. In the end, we all carry the the project across the finish line together.

#Venn Diagram