I read a short post called 4 Questions To Ask Before Starting Any Project by Ty Kiisel of @task this morning. By initial response was dismissive. I've read this same article in various forms and in various publications at least a dozen times in the last 10 years. The advice is generic. Whenever I hear it I have to ask, does the writer manage a portfolio of 100 projects? If not, the questions are simplistic. If so, then he misses the mark.
The questions Kiisel proposes are textbook project management Nirvana advice while most of us toil in Samsara. In the real word, complex projects have more that a simple list of considerations to consider. It is often that a mini-project is required simply to get approval for the bigger project.
Kiisel describes his desired outcome as optimized resource time. As in, let's make sure we don't waste time working on the wrong projects. The question that must be asked is missing. Read the list, do you see it?
- What are the high-level objectives of the project?
- What are the estimated costs of the project?
- Does the potential project align with the mission, vision, and values of the organization?
- What are the risks associated with pursuing the project under consideration?
With a finite pool of resources, the question to ask, the one that must be answered right at the start is, "What is the impact to other projects and our shared resources?"
Let's say we answer all four questions right up front and drop the project into the portfolio. If we don't know the potential damage to other projects, we are negligently interjecting risk, causing turmoil, and throwing a curve into the lives of our PMs and project resources. The executive team most know that if you approve project A, then project B slips two months and project C needs three new resources plus an increased budget. If your portfolio is a hundred projects, then the impact statement will be a white paper.
Consider the communication nightmare that will result once other projects are affected. Can you imagine what would happen if we failed to coordinated with affected stakeholders? They have the right to participate in the process too. You must include them up front, otherwise you pay the price later. It's portfolio management 101 and simply must be considered before a project is added to the portfolio or approved by executive managment.
We don't hear this advice often because it is hard work and difficult to do well. The other stuff, the big 4, we learn that in school or on the job. It's de rigueur for a good project manager. We learn to scope a project so that we know what to deliver. We learn to produce a budget and complete a ROI calculation so that we can secure funding. We learn about the buzzwords of mission, vision, and values so that our B School graduate leaders can understand and communicate the importance of the project. And most importantly, we learn about risk. As project managers we hate risk. We spend hours and hours on risk assessments and contingency planning. It's what we do. However, if we don't do the hard work of understanding and communicating the impact of a new project on the portfolio, the project and several other projects, are likely to fail.
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