Don't Ignore The Basics

Project Basics.

‘A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step’ is a quotation that is variously attributed to Confucius or Lao Tzu. Whoever said it, I’m sure the next piece of advice was ‘make sure it’s in the right direction’. It’s my belief that most books on project management do not stress the basics enough. Sexy-sounding buzzwords are very nice, but come to nothing if your project is not fundamentally organised and resourced properly. The most mundane and the most dramatic practical examples give some perspective on the basics:

To The Moon and Back

One of the greatest projects man has undertaken is the moon-landings. In 1969 NASA landed a manned craft on the surface of the moon (approx 240,000 miles away). Two men got out, did some soil samples and other experiments, got back in their craft, successfully reunited with their command module and returned safely to earth.

By many measures this was a successful project. The development and implementation of the Apollo missions is required reading for project managers, and much of what the field accepts as standard thinking and practice was developed during this time. For now, it also shows the relevance of a strong sponsor who states clearly what they want and why it’s important. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced the ambitious goal of sending an American safely to the Moon before the end of the decade. At this time in the Cold War, the Soviet Union was ahead of the USA in the space race, having put a satellite into orbit in 1957, and a man into orbit in April 1961. Leaving the politics aside, there cannot have been a project with (1) a more clearly-defined and visible objective, (2) announced by a stronger sponsor in such a high-profile way and (3) for a more readily recognisable reason.

Your Objective. Motivated Much?

I have dealt with project sponsors who just want to ‘get on with’ their project without thinking clearly about what it is they want – or why. This would be akin to JFK asking NASA in 1961 to ‘do something’ in order to show the free world that democracy, it’s methods and institutions were more advanced and preferable to communism. This wooliness is often given as the reason for failed military interventions – the lack of a clear military objective, or a tendency for politicians to underestimate the bluntness of military action. Fluffy organisational notions about improving quality or productivity need to be developed into a clear, definite and measurable objective before a project can be said to exist or any progress can be achieved. Our project objectives can’t all be visible in the sky outside working hours, but the clearer and more visible they can be made, the better.

Contribute. Or Don’t.

Most of my work over the last 5 years has been for an NHS Hospital in Essex, where I have had the pleasure of working alongside doctors and other healthcare professionals whose day-jobs regularly involve saving lives and making people better. A constant problem was the lack of time that these professionals were allowed to contribute to their projects - i.e away from their day-jobs. Despite what you’ve read in the Daily Mail, my experience is that the vast majority of people in the NHS are dedicated professionals who really care about patients. However, the basic nature of public healthcare is that demand has always outstripped supply and always will. The practical implication of this is that staff are worked extremely hard on priority no.1, which is patient care. One downside to this is when staff are given ‘other’ projects to work on, they just do not have the time to contribute properly.

Staff who are absolutely crucial to project success - generally a department manager or a matron - are assigned to a project because their staff will eventually take on the result of the project (say – a refurbished area or a new unit). So their involvement and their ownership are absolutely key to the success of the project. Are they released from their day-to-day duties to take on this extra work? Almost never. The result is that any day-to-day crisis (staff sickness, outbreak of c-diff on a ward) will inevitably be more urgent than, say, a project meeting. Even when meetings happen they are very often rushed, distracted and interrupted by bleeps or phone-calls. It is not the fault of those involved, but the organisation that does not prioritise or allocate resources properly. The hospital should recognise that project contributors need to be given time to contribute properly.

The result of this attitude was that some projects regularly ran on and on for months with no tangible progress - the ‘Service’ side simply did not have the time to contribute, so no progress was achieved. As a result, the idea of being attached to a project became undesirable, and staff would take a step-back when volunteers were being sought. Who would want to be attached to a project that you believed would not get off the ground? The smell of failure follows you around.

I understand that any project would benefit from the almost unlimited funds NASA were granted to achieve their goal. I understand that the problems described above in NHS projects would be alleviated at a stroke with unlimited funds. My point here is that these conversations need to be had with sponsors at the earliest possible point. The entire team needs to be aware of expectations about success – and failure, what it means and what it feels like. This is what’s known as ‘perspective’, and it’s crucial for the project manager/director to ensure s/he gains this, maintains it and spreads it amongst the team.