Is PRINCE killing project progress?

Is PRINCE killing project progress?

PRINCE2 is about [Pr]ojects [in C]ontrolled [E]nvironments and ostensibly is a structured approach to managing projects much the same as an accountant might use a structured approach to doing accounts. The advantage is having a well understood and transparent way to plan, monitor and review projects which can be universally understood. The problem is that the bureaucracy can consume more resources than actually delivering the project outcomes.

STORY

I was overhearing a project manager try and explain MS-Project and Gantt Charts to a manager who was much more comfortable with to-do lists and couldn t help feeling that the technology and terminology was onerous and confusing and that both actually undermined the process of project management.

It reminded me of a conversation during a project rescue where an indignant IT expert explained that they had diligently logged all the risks and it wasn t his responsibility to do anything more than update the spreadsheet. To his mind completion of the log was sufficient, even if it wasn t adequate for the communication, consultation or co-ordination of risks, issues and actions. His log was neatly in his draw, available to anyone who might ask for it, but he didn t see it as his role to be proactive.

OBSERVATIONS

Project Management is simple; it is about communication, consultation and co-ordination of aims, the tasks that contribute to those aims and the people who support the completion of the tasks. In essence you are looking to complete on-time, on-budget, to-specification with lo-risk and hi-communication.

Whilst MS-Project and Gantt Charts, as well as clever collaborative portals are all very useful the essence of successful project management is in human to human communication and this it sometimes better done with a to-do list and a cup of coffee than a flashing amber warning on a spreadsheet that is mis-understood or a Gantt chart that is unseen.

REAL-LIFE

For the Incorporation of the Ports of Jersey I started all things PRINCE2 with Gantt Charts and Project Highlight Reports and everything else from the Project Manager s toolkit. However the Gantt Chart was over 200 lines long and stretched from the ceiling to the floor in my office. The Project Highlight Reports were great, and everyone got one. However follow-up conversations revealed that they were received and filed, but not read and understood.

I had to change my approach to suit the organisation.

Instead we had 2-weekly coffee mornings where we would all get together and discuss what was happening in our work-streams. This was much more honest and revealing than Project Highlight Reports. I would then identify the key issues which would then make it to the Programme Board or Political Oversight Group.

Prior to the formal meetings of the Programme Board or Political Oversight Group there would be an informal pre-meeting with key officers to make sure there are no surprises and we quickly removed distraction from the key matters: Invariably the agendas for the meeting were very short with a very narrow focus on only the key issues for which a decision was needed.

This approach ensured communication, consultation and co-ordination up and down the hierarchical chain. It also offered focussed agendas, succinct papers and clear decisions which are the mark of good project management.

To find out more about the Incorporation of the Ports of Jersey

http://www.gov.je/Government/Consultations/Pages/PortsIncorporation.aspx

RECOMMENDATIONS

Don t get too hung up on forms, templates, charts or technology it is the message or action which is important.

Reduce the formality at the operational level so that dialogue is more honest and less likely to be full of self-promotional spin which usually accompanies people s update reports.

Use pre-meetings to cut through the jargon and identify people s key interests and preferred style rather than find yourself saying something in the wrong way, to the wrong person, at the wrong time, which could have been avoided with a little pre-meeting rehearsal.

Don t assume that anyone will read or understand what you have written, instead talk to them and use documents as a record AFTER the conversation, rather than INSTEAD of the conversation.

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THE AUTHOR

Tim Rogers is an experienced Project and Change Leader. He is founder of www.ciChange.org and curator for www.TEDxStHelier.Com . He is Programme Manager for the commercialization of Jersey Harbours and Jersey Airport. He is also Commonwealth Triathlete and World Championships Rower with a passion for teaching and learning and is a Tutor/Mentor on the Chartered Management Institute courses.

Email: TimHJRogers@AdaptConsultingGroup.com

Mob: 07797762051 Twitter @timhjrogers Skype timhjrogers