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In these belt-tightening and testing economic times, perhaps now more than ever in recent memory, businesses have to keep their wits about them. If we hazard a prediction, it would be that those with the right strategic capabilities will be the ones to best weather the current storm.
The rules for doing business are, by and large, the same.
But, without doubt, conditions have changed and, as Mother Nature has shown, it is those who adapt best who will be there for the long haul.
It is here that experienced project managers have a critical contribution to make – particularly in ensuring projects are aligned with business strategy and deliver business value, and in smoothing the delivery of effective change initiatives.
Businesses today continue to tackle ongoing and, if they are lucky, new projects.
But the first question that CEOs, strategists, business managers and, yes, project managers face, is which projects to run and which to mothball, which to keep and which to shed.
Which projects, they must decide, will add the most value to the business given the current constraints?
To do this, businesses (or any other organisations) have to become more ‘scientific’ and objective in their approach towards projects.
Firstly, they should formulate more rigorous business cases, using more accurate cost-benefit analyses and project metrics.
And, they should undertake more realistic, objective, and perhaps more scientific, business value and risk analyses.
And what are the current constraints?
Most prominent among these are two of the usual suspects – time and money.
Both remain, for anyone doing business, at least, finite.
First of all, a project has to be completed within a specific time. Few businesses – or even governments – have the luxury of ‘spare’ time. The days of extended deadlines are, for now, a thing of the past.
(Barack Obama’s administration is faced with by far the worst economic crisis since 1929, a crisis that back then took the United States over a decade – and, ironically, a war – to pull out of; yet now there are expectations that Obama should turn things around by, say, yesterday.)
So, too, money is no longer in plentiful supply. With companies and governments cutting back and trimming their budgets of any ‘fat’, managers have had to do the same – or even more – with less.
As a result, projects are going through trying times: not only are budgets and resources being cut but, with livelihoods on the line and uncertainty a daily certainty, people are feeling less than motivated.
This demands a shift in focus. Traditional project management speaks of the trade-off triangle of time, cost and quality, with a focus on project deliverables. That concept may no longer fully apply.
What is needed today instead, is a trade-off quad comprised of time, cost, quality and, most importantly, benefit – the latter measuring the delivery of business value.
This demands a shift towards that other, often unsung, resource – people.
The moment we start thinking about value, we have to think about how we draw the very best out of our team in order to deliver that value on projects.
Looking at our resources, the only variable we can really tweak – since as we know, time is time, and budgets are less flexible these days – is the way people perform.
Also, the importance of picking the right team cannot be overemphasised. That selection will be based on individuals’ capabilities or talents.
One feature to pay special attention to is the matching of the right people with the right project.
To do this, one needs a sound understanding of the project’s typology, recognition of the special nature of the project being dealt with, and the specific demands the leadership of the project will require of individuals and the team.
What businesses need now are new kinds of project leaders – leaders who can make the right strategic choices, get the best out of their people, and derive the best business value from projects.
It is time for the innovative, strategic project leaders to stand up and be counted.
Comninos directs Strategic Project Management at the UCT Graduate School of Business in August, and also directs a foundation project management course. ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).
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