It is the 80/20 rule that so many facets of business follow,
but when a project nears completion, the last 20% (or even 10%) can bleed any
budget savings you have achieved along the way.
There is a mistake some project managers make, and that is micromanaging
their projects from the beginning to end.
The idea is that by doing so, you ensure that the budget is not overrun
at the end of the project through demanding adherence to the project plan tasks
that are assigned to specific resources, and making sure the estimates are hit.
However, the main practice this type of management prevents
is innovation and creativity in order to find a more efficient way
to complete something. What is more
important, the path, or the destination, especially if the duration is equal or
less to get there? So how do you safely
promote this while still feeling confident that allowing this freedom won’t
cost you if your team fails?
While I side with the resources a little on this topic, it
is a fair conversation to have with your team.
Any project, whether it software, construction, financial, or other has
a general project process. The steps
from start to finish are generally the same for projects within a given
industry, and therefore when developing a project plan (not a Microsoft Project
Plan), you will inherently have the same process from project to project.
Once the project specific plan is developed, and it is time to execute your resource
plan, take the time to review each detail with your project team. Help them understand the plan. Help them understand what they are trying to
accomplish, and what role they are playing in the overall project. Once they are aware, and you have reviewed
the plan with them, ask them to commit to completing their portion of the work
at or below estimate...and then offer them the opportunity to provide the output
in whichever means they wish. This is
where you breed efficiency in your project.
A key component to this approach is telling them they are free to produce the
output required, as long as it is done in time to consider other dependencies, the quality is still adhered to, and the estimate for TOC is met….then,
stand back and let them amaze you.
Imagine being given sole freedom to produce an output, not
being limited to a cookie cutter way of doing so, and being allowed to innovate
how you can do it faster. I can see the
wheels turning right now, and before you say, “but resources aren’t going to
finish faster, because they are hourly, or they are trying to hit billable
targets…”, this is where you create incentives for them to do so.
Do you know how ASE certified flat-rate mechanics are
paid? Each job a mechanic performs is
rated at a certain length of time. This
time is also billed at a regulated dollar amount per hour. If the mechanic completes the items in less
than the time estimated, he is paid the full time for completion. This allows a tenured or efficient mechanic
to bill more hours than they actually work.
They can effectively bill more than 40 hours in a 40 hour week. Consider the same possibility for your
resources, or a version of. If
incented to increase their output, you gain efficiencies on your project, this
efficiency is effectively doubled because they are completed quicker with the tasks for your project, and able to work on another project sooner.
Still want to hover?
Chris Thompson, PMP,
SSYB
