A Successful Project Doesn’t Equal Good Project Management

In the article “Good Project Management Doesn’t Guarantee Project Success” I discussed the concept that no matter how good the PM leadership is, there’s still no way to guarantee the success of your project due to the infinite number of factors that can affect the outcome of an engagement. The best you can do is focus on good, sound, fundamental project management, solid leadership, and some creativity and hope for the best. There is no magic formula to guarantee success.

Just Getting By

Likewise, the converse is true. Just because you had a successful project outcome, that does not mean that good project management was practiced. There’s always the possibility that luck was a factor. The project may have been a no-brainer…fairly easy with few, if any risks. I’ve seen bad project managers have very successful outcomes. And I’ve seen very experienced project managers bomb. And by bad project managers, I mean poor leaders who lack the experience, enthusiasm, technical knowledge, attention to detail, and organizational skills to truly be competent leaders of an important engagement. I’m sure we’ve all encountered these PMs…and they’re often “playing” in the PM role and it’s not their primary role or desire.

Can’t Rely on Luck

Obviously, luck isn’t what’s going to carry us to any degree of success in our lives and careers. Thankfully, we can focus on sound practices and principles to greatly increase our odds of having successful project outcomes on a regular basis. Back to the Basics – that’s my motto when things seem to be straying off course. Stick with what you have in hand:

• Manage to the schedule and manage the schedule wisely and closely
• Manage risks and issues like your life depends on it
• Keep the communication level high with both your team and the customer
• Rule the budget with an iron fist – both in terms of scope management and in the efforts that your team is charging to the project (remember, they have other projects they’re working on…watch closely for over charging due to laziness)
• Maintain your weekly schedule of regular project activities – hold status meetings even if not much is happening (don’t let time pass during a lull in the project…your busy team members can drift away) and deliver status reports and revised schedules on the same regular basis no matter what

Summary

Remain consistent. Your team members are likely reporting to other project managers on other projects also. Stay focused on your projects and keep your team and the customer well-engaged by remaining consistent during the busy times and during the slow times on the project. Your project resources are basically like teenagers…they need organization and structure or they’ll find it on another project.

Luck may get you through an easy project here and there, but as we know the truly no-brainer projects are few and far between. It’s much more likely that you’ll encounter a fair degree of risk and chaos on most engagements. Stay firm to the sound PM practices that got you this far and the goals of your organization and you should be successful more frequently. If only there was a guarantee for success….

Related posts:

1. Good Project Management Doesn’t Guarantee Project Success
2. Criteria for Successful Project Management Offices
3. PM Best Practices for the New Project Manager
4. What if…There was No Project Management? – Revisited
5. Is Good Project Management Really Just Common Sense?