Of the hundreds of things to evaluate as potential project success deteminers just three stand out to me:
- Alignment
- Focus
- Clarity
Alignment – The “Why”
The most successful projects align well with the top priorities of the companies that fund them. There is no question in anyone’s mind how the outcomes of the project affect the bottom line of the company. A well-aligned project starts well before the project charter is written. It even starts well before the business case is made seeking funding for the project. A well-aligned project has its genesis in the strategic visioning process the leadership team engages in at least annually, if not quarterly.
The problem is that typical leadership teams at the highest levels of our corporations find most of their time working in the business. Little time or thought is given to working on the business. A well facilitated strategic visioning retreat helps these executives overcome this dilema. It is held off-site away from the lure of day-to-day problems and demands nipping at their feet. A good facilitator will not wait until the retreat to engage these executives but will have met with them at least once to get their input as well as get them thinking about the key issues and topics being discussed at the retreat.
A well-facilitated retreat will cycle through a brief history of the organization, an environmental scan of key trends, an honest assessment of strengths, problems, threats and the opportunities these create. The faciliator will help the team envision the future, perhaps even helping them outline the annual report 24 months into the future. Key themes and needs are summarized into 5 bold steps they will take going into the future. The retreat culminates with a gameplan for putting these things into play.
It is from this exercise of one like that the key projects stem. Done this way there is no question in anyone’s mind what the project is about and how it helps propel the company forward into the desired future state they seek to create.
Focus – The “What”
Now that we have a compelling “why” for doing the project, a clear focus of what the project will deliver is a hallmark of every successful project. We depend heavily on the projecting scoping activities to accomplish this. I find the most success when I use strong visual tools to help all the stakeholders, the project sponsor, and all the project team share a common vision to what success looks like. I have written a number of posts on this topic with examples you can use to enjoy the same success as I.
Project Scope Management: How Visual Communications Can Help
Project Scope Statement Development: Hedging Your Bets with Stakeholders
I find that providing some sort of context diagram that not only shows what’s in but also provides all the things that surround the in scope activities works best for getting everyone on the same page. I don’t use the term page lightly. I recommend that such a diagram be limited to one page. For more on this topic see my posts written about the virtues of one page diagrams.
Clarity – The “Who,” “How,” and “When”
Having the “why” and the “what” now leaves us with the “who,” “how,” and “when.” Project that excel in this area have a very good knowledge of their team’s needs and the best people to fill them. They make sure everyone is playing their best position and that the entire team understands this and values each and every team member for what they contribute to the project. mature teams understand that not all people are cast from the same mold and that it takes all kinds to bring a project to a successful completion.
These project teams a clear about their deliverables, their schedule, and how what they do affects their team members and their deliverables. Seasoned team members do their best work fully committed to the project success and look beyond their own responsibilities to ensure everyone has what they need for success.
I like to use a the vision to implementation map to keep everyone focused on all three points we’ve covered in this post. projects that do these things well will be much more likely to not only meet their project’s cost, time, and quality metrics but will also enjoy a much higher level of satisfaction from their team and those the project serves.