October 03
A Project's Ultimate Goal
If you ask a typical project manager, the goal of any project is to ensure that the project is done on time and budget (which includes labor and non-labor costs). If you ask a functional manager, he or she will say the goal of any project is to follow quality standards and processes and to meet or beat certain measures in the organization for quality, productivity and efficiency. If you ask a team member of a project, they will probably provide answers such as "feel that my work counts", "do something new or interesting", "make sure that my stuff works".
But, is anybody asking the end user? What would be their goal? I believe it is safe to say that their goal would be something like this -- "To provide a solution that resolves any existing problems and improves upon their current situation better than other alternatives - manual or automated." With this solution, they probably want it as quick as possible but also want to make sure that the end result does not impact them in a negative way - bugs, hard to learn, too complicated, too many additional costs with not as much benefit, etc. These goals should satisfy the functional manager because it means that they need to be thinking about quality, productivity and efficiency.
I cringe when I hear a story published that the project manager was proud that he or she was able to get a long term project on time and within budget. But, what does that mean exactly?
Did the end solution meet all of the specifications determined up front?
Did the project team consist of the same people that worked reasonable hours on the project?
Did the project have no risks that occured or did those risks not impact the scope, cost and schedule?
Did the schedule accounts for all tasks and issues that weren't planned up front in the project?
Did the project not allow for scope change or involvement from the customer?
I would guess that the answer to all of these questions would be "NO". Therefore, cost, schedule and scope all did change from the beginning of the project until it's end. Therefore, why is there such a big deal to make sure that the project hits the date and costs? If these changes are happening, then the end user should be a part of those changes, and should see that things are changing all of the time. With that said, isn't hitting a schedule and budget on target just coincidence? That for some reason, all of the stars aligned just right and you happen to meet those goals.
Next time you do a project, make sure the entire team (management included) puts less focus on hitting dates and budgets and more focus on what the ultimate goal of the project should be - to meet the goals of the end users. Make sure that end users are involved throughout the project. Make sure that they see progress along the way and can react to how the end product is coming along. And, utlimately make sure that the solution that is provided at the end of the project meets or exceed their expectations.
Then, you can publish and brag about how successful your project was for the right reasons!
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