All attendees of “Project Management… by the particular Numbers” know that every project will be a project within just another project(! ). In other terms, every project all of us manage can be a component of another bigger project. So, very best difference between a small business process and some sort of project management method?
Let’s begin typically the answer having an example of this…
The CEO of the organization thinks the project is usually to bring a fresh product to marketplace. Let us phone the product the Wireless Internet Waffle Flat iron (WiWi).
The BOSS knows he/she provides a process in order to get the WiWi though his company. This consists of identifying the particular best possible WiWi and all the particular way to supporting the WiWi when it is sold to the particular consumer.
The corporation offers a published plan based on stages with this process (for example; Stage a single – Ideation, Period 2 – Analysis, Stage 3 — Feasibility, Stage some – Development, Period 5 – Commercialization, Stage 6 instructions Sustainment), in order to get the WiWi from one particular stage to a different.
Almost all often, the method progresses by moving the responsibility of the particular project in one class to the subsequent along the way of every stage. It does help make sense that Engineering manages the conceptual work and Advertising and marketing manages the advertising.
Because of this particular process, the TOP DOG passes the project to his immediate reports with full confidence that will the project can be managed on moment, on budget and that the Internet Waffle Iron is going to be exactly as imagined.
Working with my clientele, I possess identified this specific scenario hundreds times over the yrs and it is easy to recognize this while a “business process” as this will be how the business (company) views the task as a project.
Now, back in order to our scenario…
The WiWi project is running behind schedule because the analysis stage took more than planned as well as the project is working over budget as the feasibility stage has not been properly analyzed in advance. Now you (the next project manager in line) have been assigned typically the development stage and therefore are expected to provide the project again on time and schedule as well as manage most the work the particular development stage needs.
All this time the CEO continue to be have confidence inside his people plus processes that this WiWi project will probably be on time, cost in addition to objectives. You are usually backed in the particular corner with this particular (can’t let the CEO down) and have to slice corners since they did during the feasibility period.
After some significant frustration, a several all-nighters and several creative reporting, a person breathe a sigh of relief plus can pass the particular project with most of its troubles to the following group in the particular process line. Regrettably, the WiWi remains over budget and even running even later on.
What we have described above will be a classic enterprise process that may be mistaken for a project management process. The is that the company process sees the product since the project, not the levels or even typically the tasks as specific projects.
Business processes are absolutely required for management to plan and function from, but once we view each level and task while a project, plus the leader of every stage and the doer of each process as a project manager, then you will have an responsibility chain within the particular project. Back to each of our scenario… but this time through because a Project Supervision Process.
The Four Phases of a Project Management Procedure…
Phase One – Concept/Feasibility
The WiWi have been dropped directly into the business process by the TOP DOG. The person that will is leading the Ideation Stage need to consider this phase a project within itself, and themselves as being the Project Manager.
Ideation is a new part of the particular WiWi project, nevertheless possesses its own separate period, cost and targets. These must get defined and arranged to by typically the Ideation Phase Project Manager and a Project Customer (maybe the Project Buyer has to end up being the CEO! ).
Before agreement may happen, the Ideation Stage Project Manager has to become convinced his/her element of the WiWi Project can become accomplished within typically the time, cost in addition to objective constraints presented. In order to determine the genuine TCO versus the particular goal TCO, every single member of typically the Ideation Project Staff must view their own tasks as assignments with themselves as the Task Job Manager and the Ideation Stage Project Administrator as their Job Customer. Each person then follows the same project managing process to find agreement that their duties can be completed to the individual time cost and goal constraints given.
Whenever the entire staff agrees all duties can be carried out according to individual concept/feasibility studies, agreement can certainly be reached or negotiated between the particular Ideation Stage Project Manager and the WiWi Project Administrator.