The best results come from a necessary evil!

Project managers are often seen as people who are going to add to existing workload, which is, of course, true to a certain extent, as a project does create additional work, which can be frustrating for operational people.

The key to be an effective project manager, however, is finding the right balance of governance to ensure that the project is delivered robustly with the least amount of pain.

In a tongue in cheek compliment, I was described by a former colleague as a “necessary evil” and by another as the “glue”. I appreciated both terms. Having to work to a structured approach isn’t natural for everybody. That is where the role of an effective PM comes in: to provide coaching, support and when needed, cajoling to ensure that projects are delivered as required.

When approaching a project, I always ensure that key points are covered off, even if people are unaware of structure being applied. For example, to develop a draft / outline Project Initiation Document (PID), which can fit on just one side of A4 paper. For the goal, I ask questions such as “what do want to achieve?” To capture the objectives, I ask “what will we need in place to deliver this?”. For risks, I ask “what could go wrong?” You can develop a draft / outline PID in as little as half an hour from a brief chat with the Business Lead and / or Sponsor.

For a very complex project, you must spend more time and effort in capturing the required detail for a robust definition. The resulting document may be many more pages long. This may require a project definition workshop to generate the detail or can be done with a series of 1:1’s.

When planning a project, I capture the right level of detail to deliver visibility and control. The plan can range from around twenty tasks to several hundred. The key is to find the right balance of detail that’s needed and manageable for both the project manager and stakeholders.

You may need to run a planning workshop but may be able to capture the required detail in a series of smaller (potentially 1:1) sessions with project team members, depending on people’s availability.

When it comes to monitoring key things such as actions, issues, risks and dependencies, I ensure that these are reviewed with the owners at least once per week. The only exception to this is where the proximity of an action, risk or dependency does not warrant a weekly review.

Having regular project team and steering meetings also helps a great deal. The duration and frequency are, of course, dependent on the urgency and complexity of the project. With meetings, I aim to minimise impact to people’s day job, by keeping them to a minimum required duration and find a balance between face to face sessions and conference calls.

Where possible, I send pre-reading for meetings and then verbally and visually review the required details (some by exception) with the team. I populate the required updates into the project documents and then copy and paste the relevant detail needed by the team into the body of an email, rather than send the whole project documents.

As a project manager, I accept that I can be seen as a necessary evil but I am also the necessary glue! Effective project management is knowing how much glue to use. Use too little at your peril. Find the right amount and you achieve success. Use too much and you may find that you are wading through treacle...

Please feel free to contact me to discuss how I can help your business approach change.