It’s scary out there. I have been to conferences, read articles, and seen on-line discussion groups that have spent a lot of time chewing on such things as “What is the difference between a process and a project?”, “When is a project a process?”, “If you are process oriented, can you be a systems thinker?”, etc.
Can’t we all just get along? Project management, process improvement and documentation, and systems thinking all have their places; and none of them – in actual practice – are mutually exclusive. Remember that our definition of “correct” is “what works”.
Project management is a way of organizing the calendar and budget that guide a project and communicating that to project participants and stakeholders in such a way that stuff gets done. When we document process – no matter the form – we are writing a recipe for how to do something over and over again and get the same quality result. When we think of either projects or processes as systems, we are acknowledging that they are complicated and that they are non-linear: Sometimes when we follow the steps, different stuff happens and we need to adjust. Process improvement and systems thinking both lead us to look at root cause when we don’t get what we want. Process improvement tends to look at the sequence in the recipe to see how it can be fixed; systems thinking challenges us to look for causes based upon the relationships among the parts and players that are affecting the process.*
At Phillips Corporation, we also talk about “well crafted plans”. A well crafted plan supports an audacious objective. It is in place before we begin, anticipating obstacles to success (like a project plan), should be recorded and reported as we go along (like a process document), and takes into account the big picture: people, culture, environment, and potential drivers and constraints (systems thinking). Some of these ideas have some contradictions to one another, but having all of them in our toolbox helps us to be flexible.
And now reality:
We set our objective, sign up the stakeholders, and craft a plan. Then the unanticipated happens, we’re thrown off track, and our lovely well crafted plan needs re-crafting. Open your toolbox and examine: Was a step missed? Should the step have happened in a different order? Were the proper tools or skills not in place? (process), Was the plan not communicated? Were all not on board? Did something scheduled or agreed to fall through the cracks without being noticed or communicated? Did we guess wrong on scope, cost, or time needed? (project) Does everyone understand their roles? Is communication happening the way it should? Is the team or organization inadvertently working against success? Are we pushing against the culture? (systems)
There are, of course, many more questions that can be asked, and we all have our favorites. Try this: if your orientation is stronger in one of the three – project, process, or systems – learn about the others or invite someone with a different orientation to join your team.
When something interferes with the execution of your plan – and something will – the more kinds of questions you can ask, the better your correction will be.
*(This paragraph is intentionally oversimplified. Please comment if you have questions, additions, or arguments.)
Regarding Bill’s purposefully simplified paragraph – I like simple. To even further simplify - The Project Management Institute’s (PMI) definition of a project is “a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service”. Therefore, creating a process or an improvement to a process can be project. Creating or changing a system can be a project. Hah!
There is a PROCESS to managing a project: Initiate, Plan, Execute, Monitor/Control, and Close.
Project management as defined by the PMBOK guide is “the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements.” To many, project management is merely keeping track of the project schedule. In actuality, the project schedule is one of the tools used to manage a project. The project manager uses these tools, knowledge, skills, etc. to direct the project team to ensure that the project is executed within the constraints of the project scope, timeframe and budget to achieve the project goal.
When our well-crafted project plan strays from its intended execution path (as revealed during the Monitoring process) we use skills (interpersonal, management, risk assessment, etc.), knowledge (our own or from subject matter experts) and tools (resources, lessons learned, historical data) in the Control process to adjust the path to success.
Posted by: Devin Hogan | 12/10/2011 at 01:44 PM