Project Management – A To-Do List With Dates!

I was reading a post about the fascination certain business managers/owners have with the spreadsheet and how dependant on it they are to run their businesses. This got me thinking to how dependant project management has become on the processes it uses rather than the actual delivery of a project.

Project management is about delivering a quality end-result. To deliver the project, the manager has a list of things that need to be done, a timescale and a budget in order to produce that end-result. That’s it!

The problem with project management is that it spends too much time looking at itself rather than what it is trying to achieve. Methodologies and processes are created by project managers – which is correct, but they produce them for themselves and not the end recipients i.e. the customer of that project.

Project management theorists will tell you that the customer is at the forefront of all the thinking behind the processes. I would disagree. To a large extent, project management methodologies and the endless reams of documentation that come out as a consequence are, by in large, designed to elevate the status of the project management function. Ouch(!).

Before you jump down my throat, a project manager is an extremely valuable member of any organisations. They need to be effective communicators, highly organised, budget and quality focussed, team leaders, decision makers and thick skinned! Where my “beef” is that the constantly updated theories and practices being touted as “best in class” do not necessarily contribute anything extra to the projects effectiveness from the customer standpoint.

The most effective project managers that I have worked with know how to manage their team and clients through superb communication. More often than not, the dreaded Gantt chart is only produced to satisfy the needs of the internal management team and most of the effort is managed from a simple spreadsheet or indeed a notepad with a list of to-do’s. A simplification, but designed to drive the point that it does not need to be as complicated as it has become.

Project management should be accessible by everyone in every field where the high level concepts can be applied. It has some really great operational practices, but needs to be pared back to make sure these are obvious and adopted by all.

Project management – It’s just a list of things to do! Oh – and its for everyone, not just project managers!

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  • First off, this is a great post. It really distills what project management is down to its core.

    It's interesting that a people believe that to manage projects more effectively we have to track more things. I care about only one metric: What is completed and demonstrable to the rest of the company at the end of the week.

    We sit down at the beginning of the week, figure out what we are going to accomplish, break it up to make sure that we can demonstrate it (and it's value) to people who aren't code geeks, and then start working on it.

    Do we always get everything done? No. Do we always have something to demonstrate? Sadly, No.

    However, we can look and see how many items we get done on average each week, and then use that to extrapolate how long it will take to finish the rest of the items on the list that need to get done.

    Is it perfect? No. Does it always work perfect? No. But it works pretty good.
  • Hi Zachary. Thanks for the comments. I am delighted to see that you are a man after my own heart. Keeping it simple is often far more effective a way of ensuring you stay on track! Great points - cheers.
  • I agree that the base of project management is providing a quality, finished product or outcome. The PM steps to attain that goal are also very simple. However, I think more success has to do with great organization and strong communication than just documenting each step of a project. Many online project management tools integrate task management to keep tasks organized, and like you said it can be a bit over done. But the good PM systems also integrate team collaboration and communication to connect the team better. Keeping all communication online in the same place as the project itself is a big differentiator between a successful project and an unsuccessful one. So keep the basics in mind, but find a tool that can help improve what is needed to be a great project manager.
  • Hi Dana. Thanks a million for the comment. Agree with you 100% that a collaborative and unified communications path is a major help to project managers. It is just important to remember that a great tool does not necessarily mean a great project - it is an assistance rather than the means to the end.
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