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The Project Survival Kit

Jul 10, ’10 9:55 AM

If you were deserted on a stranded island, what three things would you take with you?  While there is no official answer to this question, you could answer this question by identifying the core fundamentals of survival – essentially, food, water and shelter.  If your three things address these needs, you have a good chance of survival.

A similar stance can be said for project management.  All too often, managing a project introduces specific processes, tools, documentation and applications all of which are designed to streamline the act of project management, but may do the complete opposite in enabling true productivity.

I believe that there are three things one needs to have at her/his disposal to accomplish a specific task with a discrete number of resources.  These three things can be thought of as the “project survival kit” – their collective use allows one to “get the job done.

1. Description of the end-state – This 1-2 page document is an expansion of a traditional “scope” statement.  It provides a full picture of the project including artifact creation, team dynamics, communication plans and final deliverables.  The intent is to describe the “ideal” project in sufficient detail before you start working.  Think of it as your “map” to your destination.

2. Team Strengths and Personality Inventory – You have resources at your disposal, but how do you utilize their talents in the best possible way?  Know the strengths and personalities of your team members!  When the relationship is strong, anything is possible.

3. Organizational Chart – If you don’t know how project participants are “linked” to one another, your effectiveness as a project leader will be limited.  In addition, you run the risk of “crosstalk” (redundant and inefficient communication) between project participants which can impede progress.  Also, if there is more than one leader identified on the chart, you have a problem.

So, what am I leaving behind?

You’ll notice that I don’t have a timeline or project plan listed.  While I think a timeline is useful, I don’t think it’s one of the top three.  If you know what you are looking to accomplish, have a good sense of how the team will be organized to deliver this end-state, and their strengths, the project will move forward at it’s most efficient pace; a timeline isn’t going to matter.

I also don’t have risks identified.  Remember, anything can happen.  Even if you list all of the risks you know about, there are plenty of things that you likely don’t.  Spend your time on what’s happening now. If an issue exists, take action.

To be clear, I am not suggesting that you completely eliminate the use of supporting documents or forgo the use of a project plan if it provides a real benefit.

However, by looking at projects with a forward-thinking mindset, I think you’ll be less concerned about timelines, documentation, “CYA” strategies and risks / issues inventories.  Instead, you’ll be utilizing resources whose activities are all designed to achieve the end-state in the most efficient and enjoyable manner possible.

It’s about focusing your attention on the activities that truly matter, and isn’t that what getting things done is all about?

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Lessons in Efficiency.

Mar 10, ’09 9:33 PM

I am currently taking “Design Drawing I” – a foundation Industrial Design course at the Academy of Art University.

One of the interesting aspects of this class is that while I am gaining considerable knowledge about perspective drawing, sketching and rendering, one of the foundation lessons involves the development of an efficient sketching workflow.  Understanding the reason behind the prescribed workflow, working within that workflow, and streamlining all aspects of the workflow is key to succeeding in the course (and beyond).

The workflow conveyed in the course typically involves the following four steps:

  1. Thumbnails – very small sketches designed to be created in five minutes or less to determine composition.
  2. Sketching from still life – a loose sketch designed to distinguish light and dark areas.
  3. Drafting – drawing the objects in proper perspective using the life sketch as a reference point.
  4. Final Render – transferring the draft to charcoal paper for the final NuPastel render.

The first several weeks of the course were very challenging for me because while I understood the workflow in principle, I didn’t really grasp the importance of each step until fairly recently.  Because of this lack of awareness, I started to work outside of this workflow.  Not surprisingly, I was less efficient and early on I began to see the class as a “means to an end” vs. the true learning experience I originally signed up for.

Ironically enough, one reason why I originally worked against the workflow was to try to be more efficient.

One of the early lessons in efficiency (i.e. overcoming procrastination) is to “work on the most difficult task first”.  The reasons for doing so are obvious: eliminate your main barrier and everything else will be much easier to complete.  Because of this lesson, I focused on the drafting and render first (the most difficult steps in the above workflow) before spending time on the thumbnails and life sketch.

After realizing my error, I decided to abandon this early efficiency lesson and instead work within the defined workflow.  Due to this change, the past week has been significantly better both in terms of overall (sketch) quality and personal satisfaction.

This concept has applicability to the workplace as well. In general, companies that operate efficiently do better than those that do not.  This is one reason why companies focus their energies on process engineering and process improvement methodologies such as Lean and Six Sigma – i.e. highly efficient processes mean the company can do more with less (e.g. time, money, resources, etc.), and this makes them more competitive.

As with my experience in the classroom, associates who work outside of or against these established processes (for various reasons) can frequently find this behavior to cause them (and others) greater dissatisfaction and efficiency loss in the long-run.

Perhaps the lesson here is not really about efficiency gain – it’s about understanding what you hope to gain from the experience.  If you are treating the activity as a “means to an end” (e.g. a specific result, grade, etc.) then you will likely be less efficient in the long-run, and you may never achieve your objective.  In contrast, if you operate with the mindset that you are working solely for the experience, your satisfaction will increase and you will be efficient by default.

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