Overcontrol

Project Quality Assurance is a tought necessity. While it would be better for an organization’s project management processes to be sound enough to do without additional checks and challenges, for Project Managers to have a bullet-proof toolset to prevent quality-related issues, this doesn’t seem to be the case at all times.

There is a flipside, however. It’s easy to formulate standards and requirements, and expect PMs to abide by them. The PM herself is controlled – documentation reviewed, milestone timeliness checked, risk completeness assessed etc. These standards have the tendency to change often once QA teams start to operate. It’s not enough to deliver – the “how” matters too. The caveat is that documentation is a secondary project management activity – producing docs does not equate the completion of a project and such “artefacts” are created by one PM sparringly throughout a given year. The PM is rarely an “expert” here. QA teams, on the other hand, specialize in the kinds of documents they review, plus they review them on a regular basis.

A Project Manager is tasked with making things happen, first and formost. A certain degree of formalization is often required to ensure standards are met, safeguarded by Quality Assurance. But it is well worth to consider supporting the PM rather than dinging him or her for non-compliance.

Iterative work is human

Having read several great articles discussing Agile and Waterfall recently (e.g. More Agile Claims, What Killed Waterfall Could Kill Agile), I decided to share some thoughts. These days I’m involved in internal projects for “the business” (as opposed to “the ICT”). In a sense that IT components are part of a project, delivered by a an internal IT unit or an external supplier — usually with a dedicated Project Manager (obviously, every project is a “business” project, as it should lead to business benefits). Agile management hasn’t come our way yet. I wish it had (I know it aims at software development though).

Iterations are human. “Linear action” is the domain of machines, rather than people.

Take a look: 

Agile-vs-waterfall2

(If ‘A’ is the beginning of a project and ‘B’ — its end, it might be that iterations bring the team closer to the final product as expected by the client and his/her understanding of quality. The picture is a huge simplification — having in mind expectations, constraints etc.) We love to have a clear picture of where we’re headed. Describe it (business case, charter), plan it (aka make a prognosis) and then control it (or in many unfortunate cases – be managed by it). Having all constraints in place, it’s easier to put the damn thing on an invoice. Problem is:

  • Project Managers need time to grow as practitioners, as leaders. There aren’t so many experienced ones as one might think.
  • We have the tendency to reduce cognitive disonance in many ways — when things go wrong, only few have the skills and guts to let the world know “the king is naked.”
  • Not every environment leaves ample space for error and change.

Bottom line — people are not computers. They err, they fool themselves (“I don’t think this is so much of an issue yet”), they don’t always respond well to outside pressure (“By when exactly did you promise to deliver feature X?”). That’s why lean embraces errors and man’s imperfect nature calling it “continuous improvement.”

“if your #lean efforts are struggling, ask how much fear is in the org: fear of trying, fear of failing, fear of blame or punishment?” — Mark Graban from @LeanBlog

This is why I like the idea of iterations in any environment. Agile recognizes it, waterfall — not exactly.

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Additional links

Don’t feel intimidated

If we are so knowledgeable, why is mediocrity omnipresent? If we consider titles, certifications and fancy tools, why do we still get more project failures than successes? Take a look at your own backyard — how are things going on there? Are projects on time / on budget? Are processes continuously measured and improved? Are you innovating? Does your company know what it knows?

You don’t need much to become better than the average.