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The Fifth Element
Whether our title affords it or not, we are all
project managers. From the moment we wake
up through the end of the day, we take on a
series of tasks that for the most part are small
projects that lead to our successful day.
However, many of us look back at our days
and wish that we could have done something
better. So we asked ourselves what are the primary elements of successful project
management. In our research, we have found an authority on the subject that touts; there are
five elements to successful project management.
So in tradition of smart professionals, and I am assuming that you are still reading this e-
magazine because you are smart, we believe, for knowledge, like “Jello”, there is always room
for more. Now before you go through this article and decide that, yah I know how to project
manage… blah, blah, blah. Read the Execute step at least, even though it’s not the last phase,
we call this “The Fifth Element” because, it will determine whether you succeed or fail.
The following is an explanation of the five process groups, adapted from the book, A Guide to
the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), and published in 2000 by the
Project Management Institute.
Initiate.
Now you would think this step is
unnecessary; however, if you look back
at your projects, you will find that the
longest delay was the one that preceded
the project. If you were to gauge difficulty
by our reluctance to enter this phase,
getting started would to be one of the
most difficult tasks of them all. The
initiation process authorizes the overall
project or the next phase of a project. In
this phase, project objectives are established, scope is defined, and responsible parties and
deliverables are identified.
Plan.
Ok, now you will have to agree, this phase is sometimes grossly neglected after the initial plan.
The Gant chart is built, then that’s the last we see of it, or it never changes. Regardless, the
planning processes are precisely that--the defining and “refining” of the best courses of action
to take to attain the project objectives. Much like our Constitution, and as “ELO” would put it,
“It’s a living thing…” Planning falls into two
categories: core planning processes and facilitating
processes.
Core processes are those that have clear
dependencies that require them to be
performed in essentially the same order on
most projects. Examples include scope
planning, schedule development, resource
planning, and cost budgeting.
Facilitating processes are entirely
dependent on the nature of the project and are performed intermittently and as needed-
-though they are not optional. Some of the facilitating planning processes include
quality planning, staff acquisition, and risk identification.
Execute.
We had the pleasure of interviewing one of the top
executives in his day, John C. Diebel, the founder
of telescope manufacturer Meade Instruments
Corporation and a recipient of the Franklin
Institute's Bower Award for Business Leadership.
Now retired, he launched the company
successfully dominated the market, then sold it.
The new owners grounded the company, so John
bought it back, and took the near bankrupt
company back to 100 million dollar enterprise in less than a few years, so as EF Hutton used
to say, “We are listening…”
One of John’s key observations on what was missing at the top for many companies, and his
own when he sold it, was the lack of emphasis on this phase, “EXECUTION”. He believed that
process alone was not sufficient; he recalled an article from Fortune magazine long ago, listing
executives from AT&T, GM, etc... 20 in all and the title “Why were they fired”. John realized
these folks, was all well liked and very personable and detailed in every way, but just couldn’t
get the job done. Whether this was in the form of delivery, or quality, the end result was
anemic at best. John believed this to be the Arc of the Covenant for success. He went so far
as to randomly select a product, open the box, assemble it, just like the customer would
experience it, and assess whether, the experience was positive. From his experience, he
would adjust the line accordingly. So, if anything you get from this article, pay heed to this
paragraph, it may save your job.
Planning paves the way for executing, which involves coordinating resources, human and
otherwise, to carry out the overall project plan. Because of the ongoing role execution plays in
project management, its processes are also divided into core and facilitating subgroups. The
central core process, project plan execution, oversees facilitating processes such as team
development, information distribution, and solicitation.
Monitor and control.
This is funny, for the first to go when a
project is tanking is the monitoring and
control, because for whatever reason,
US companies rarely value monitoring.
Whenever a project goes awry all of
the sudden, the project control is shot
from the hip, as if that is a better
solution.
We will share a story that you may or may have not heard. A famous toothpaste manufacturer
was getting significant consternation from their distributors for receiving purchased product
boxes that were empty. Taking this to heart, the executives contracted, I kid you not, a
multimillion dollar automatic content detecting system that was complex it would breakdown
constantly. Long story short, one of the senior executives was walking the manufacturing floor
and noticed a pile of toothpaste boxes on the floor by the conveyor belt. He asked the worker
standing there what they were doing on the floor, he said, “Oh, I got tired of waiting for the
machine to work, so I brought in a fan from home and it blows the empty boxes off the belt, so
I can do my packing job without stopping. Monitoring, the belt, in this case, could have saved
them a small fortune.
Controlling processes have a strong presence in all of the project management stages. These
processes ensure not only that project objectives are met, but also that corrective action can
be taken should a problem arise. In this phase, performance reporting and risk monitoring and
control are core. These watchdog processes work with facilitating processes such as cost
control, quality control, and schedule control to ensure the project stays on track.
Close.
Ok, most of you don’t even do this. Really?
No one’s looking; you can tell us the truth.
Ok, but odds are you aren’t doing it well.
Closing involves the follow up and the post
mortem (what we could have done better).
Why is this phase neglected? Because you jump right in the next project, doomed to repeat
your same mistakes again. The watchful eyes of the controlling processes eventually lead to
closing, where the project is accepted and brought to an orderly end. The two main
components of closing are contract closeout, in which any remaining open items are resolved
and the contract is settled, and administrative closure, the gathering of information to formalize
project completion, including compiling lessons learned for use in future projects.
Source(s)
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), published in 2000 by
the Project Management Institute
