| Articles » How To Handle the Top 5 Challenges in Managing Your Projects |
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How To Handle the Top 5 Challenges in Managing Your Projects |
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| Business Improvement Architect ’s annual research of project managers at ProjectWorld
2004 in Toronto, Canada indicated that ‘Shifting Organizational
Priorities’ was the top challenge their organization faces in
managing projects. This issue jumped by 8 percentage points versus
last year to take the number one position slightly ahead of ‘Lack
of Clarity in the Scope of the Project’. Each of these issues
was mentioned respectively forty-nine percent (49%) and forty-eight
percent (48%) of the times by the 263 survey respondents. Over the
past 4 years, both these issues have consistently been identified
as the top two challenges that organizations face in managing projects.
The third challenge for respondents was ‘Project Changes Not
Well Managed’ (40%) followed by ‘Project Risk Not Assessed
or Managed’’ (35%). |
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Graph - Challenges Your Organization Faces in Managing Projects
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| In our research project managers also identified ‘Training
of Project Sponsors’ fifty-four percent (54%) of the time as
something that would benefit them most to improve their ability to
manage a project. This item saw a significant increase over the prior
year by 11 percentage points. As well they said they would benefit
from ’Communication Skills’ and ‘Coaching Skills’
(34% each). |
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Graph - Beneficial Items to Improve Your Ability to Manage a Project
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| The research also showed the following major that are
facing organizations when managing projects: |
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- A lack of project management skills
- Project not linked to organizational goals
- Project does not include all stakeholder needs
- Loss of control due to lack of detail in project plan
- Conflict among project team members
- Lack of senior management support/buy-in
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| All of these challenges point to the need for greater
strategic perspective within organizations when it comes to project
management. Projects must be strategically aligned to support the
organizations corporate strategy if they are to survive the ever-changing
priorities of the organization. Here are some recommendations on what
project managers can do to manage these challenges: |
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| Challenge #1 - Shifting Organizational Priorities |
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| The ever-changing nature of our economies and organizations creates
uncertainty on organizational priorities. One of the most frustrating
experiences a project manager can suffer is managing within this
environment - while the project is being implemented. We refer to
this type of project change as Strategically-Driven Scope Creep.
This can seriously impact the entire project. |
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| There are a number of reasons why Strategically-Driven Scope
Creep can occur: |
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- The ever-changing nature of the organization may change the
project's goal, deliverable, budget, or timeline. For example,
a project that is critical today is suddenly not as important
tomorrow. And the project manager is told to put it aside for
awhile and work on other, newer priorities.
- A change in top management may be accompanied by a change in
priorities and even in the direction of expansion and other efforts.
For example, a project that progressing at a reasonable pace is
suddenly thrust forward. A shorter time line is forced on the
project, yet all deliverables, as originally defined, must be
met.
- A new President or even department manager may render a project
meaningless in the light of new direction, new services, new products,
new technology, etc. Projects are accelerated, slowed down, cancelled,
maintained but with different deliverables, etc.
- Even without the influence of change, management may change
their own course. If we could all get into the brains of our senior
management group, this challenge would be easy to manage.
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| Unfortunately, the project manager has little control
over these occurrences. However, the project hopefully has a clear
process for managing project changes. This Change Management process
is designed to assist in managing this type of major, externally influenced
change. Here are steps to help reduce the impact of these major changes: |
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| 1. Immediately inform the team...avoid adopting an anti-management
attitude when your project’s goal, deliverables or even its
continued life is threatened. Explain why the change is occurring,
and then use the change management process to manage the change. |
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| 2. Concentrate on executing the change, rather than
on less productive and negative activities...do everything you can
to channel your team’s energy into the new effort. |
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| 3. Revise your schedule and budget...only after the
change request has been approved. |
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| 4. Revise your project plan...and gain your team’s
commitment to the new schedule. |
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| 5. Attach the signed Change Request Form to the Project
Scope Statement. The final success of a project is measured against
the Project Scope Statement plus all attached, signed Change Request
Forms. |
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| 6. If the project has been cancelled, complete a close-out
evaluation report on the project to date. These projects have a funny
habit of re-appearing again in one or two years. And although it may
be a new team assigned to re-start the project, possibly with different
deliverables, if the documentation from this effort has been retained,
it will assist this new effort enormously because the knowledge will
not be lost. |
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| Challenge #2 - Lack of Clarity in the Scope of the Project |
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| The Scope Statement, once completed, becomes the basis for future
project decisions including, in particular, the criteria used to determine
if the project (or phase of the project) has been completed successfully.
Essentially, this document will form the basis for an agreement between
the project team, the project customer and the project sponsor, by
identifying both the project goal and major project deliverables. |
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| So, why is there a lack of clarity in the scope of
the project? We coach many projects in crisis every year. During
the initial auditing phase of the project, we ask to review how
the project was scoped out. Invariably, we receive piles of documents,
files, etcetera, yet there is often nothing that succinctly identifies
the scope of the project. |
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| To bring these projects back on track, the project
team must go back and define the scope of their project as well
as gain a clear understanding of the stakeholders’ needs.
By defining scope through the planning process, there becomes greater
control and the need for project change is minimized. This further
reduces the likelihood of risk. |
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| Once developed by the project team, the Scope Statement
is reviewed and approved by the Sponsor. Then clarity on the scope
of the project is obtained. |
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| As the project progresses, one may find that the scope
of the project has changed. To address this it is important to apply
the Change Management Process. Requests for change are added as an
addendum to the Scope Statement. However, the Scope Statement itself
is not re-written. |
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| Project success is measured by the ability to have achieved
all the requirements as outlined in the Scope Statement, with all
approved Project Change Requests. |
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| Challenge #3 – Project Changes Not Well Managed |
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| The approved Scope Statement and Project Plan initiate
a Request for Change when there is a need to modify the agreed-upon
project scope as defined. Scope changes often require adjustments
to cost, time, quality, risk or other project deliverables. These
changes must be put back through the planning process, updating plans
as needed and notifying stakeholders as deemed appropriate. Corrective
action is needed to bring expected future project performance into
line with the project plan. |
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| The term ”Scope Change” is often used. It refers
to anything that will now be different to what had originally been
agreed-upon in the original Project Scope Statement and subsequently
the Project Plan. |
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| However, there are issues that the Project Manager
and/or team will face in the management of Project Change, which
will lead to an inability to manage project change. Some of these
issues are: |
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- The Project Team does not recognize that a change has occurred.
They permit schedule and budget variances to occur.
- Anything that alters the project planned dates, budget,
deliverables, or customer expectations must be documented
and approved before implementation. Do not go crazy with change
requests. Generally, if there is a slippage in the schedule
or budget, track these. When it becomes apparent that you
will not be able to catch up on these slippages and therefore
a milestone will be missed, that is when a Change Request
should be completed and approved.
- The Project Team does not handle change well. They get upset
when the sponsor initiates a change rather than submit it back
as a change request.
- The only thing that we know for certain is that the Sponsor
will often change their mind for reasons that we do not necessarily
understand. Nevertheless, each change can be reflected back
to the Scope Statement and therefore given back to them in
the form of a Change Request. Often, when they realize the
impact that this change will have on the project, they decide
not to proceed.
- The Project Team doesn’t provide options to the sponsor.
This may lead to rejection of the change request.
- If the Sponsor is backed into a corner and told that there
is only one option and that is to approve the requested change,
then the team must accept the consequences of a “No”
response. However, if they provide options to the Sponsor,
so if they do not like the first option, perhaps they will
accept Option #2 or Option #3. Furthermore, let them know
the consequences of not approving any option. How will this
impact the project? The more data you can provide to your
sponsor, the more likely they will give you some level of
approval.
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| Challenge #4 – Project Risk Not Assessed or Managed |
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Risk Management is the process of identifying, analyzing
and responding to the risk factors throughout the life of a project
in order to ensure that the scope deliverables are successfully realized.
Essentially, the purpose of risk management is to:
- Identify possible risks.
- Reduce or allocate risks.
- Provide a rational basis for better decision making in regards
to all risks.
- Plan appropriate responses to the eventual outcome of a risk.
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| Proper risk management implies that we can control possible
future events. Of course we cannot, but it forces us to think about
what might prevent success, based on our own experiences. And therefore,
what can we do to reduce risk likelihood or to manage the risk, should
it occur. It is proactive rather than reactive. |
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| Proper risk management will reduce the likelihood of an
event occurring and the magnitude of its impact. Projects incorporate
a Risk Management Process to reduce crisis management. There will
always be some things that will occur but most of these, through sound
risk management, can be managed. |
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| Assessing and managing risks is the best weapon you have
against project catastrophes. By evaluating your plan for potential
risks and developing strategies to address them, you’ll improve
your chances of a successful, if not perfect, project. |
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| Risk Management is continuous. It is not done just at
the beginning of a project; rather it is done throughout a project
to ensure that high priority risks are aggressively managed and that
all risks are cost-effectively managed throughout the project. As
well, it provides management at all levels with the information required
to make informed decisions on issues critical to project success. |
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| Challenge #5 – Training of Project Sponsors |
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| Training project sponsors on their role in ensuring project
success helps the project manager and increases the likelihood of
project excellence. This type of training provides sponsors with an
understanding of what the expectation is, on their part, to help manage
project issues, to approve project scope and to provide timely approvals.
When project sponsors are on side, resources are more likely to be
allocated in accordance with project importance, as they tend to continuously
use a set of standard criteria to prioritize projects. |
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| While sponsors will not be managing the day-to-day
details of the project they need to understand their role in ensuring
success. For this reason, BIA offers an a series of executive training
courses in Project Management that includes training for project
sponsors. The training comprehensively covers the issues and concerns
around project plan implementation such as the setting of criteria
for signing off on Scope Statement approval. |
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| Conclusion |
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| There is a need for organizations to link their projects
back to their corporate strategies and to train project sponsors to
increase the likelihood that projects will survive shifting organizational
priorities. Project Management Offices and project managers must understand
how each project contributes to achieving corporate goals—which
should be found in the strategic plan. What is their strategic alignment?
With a process in place to manage change and risk, project managers
are better able to cope and deal with these challenges. Similarly,
training of Project Sponsors will help to bring them on side so that
resources are allocated in accordance with project importance. |
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| For more information about this article, please contact bia™ at info@bia.ca. |
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| © Business Improvement Architects |
