Successful project management requires managing both people and process. I was invited to participate in writing the 77 Sins of Project Management. I had fun looking over the juicy list of sins. It was hard but I choose Blaming, Rigidity and Satisficing. Why? I had some solutions for common people related project problems.

Satisficing is a decision-making strategy which attempts to meet criteria for adequacy, rather than to identify an optimal solution.

Project managers may make an intellectual or emotional choice to not fully examine all stakeholders, requirements or needs. The project then fall shorts on full business requirements or solution identification due to time or team pressures when operating in an uncertain environment. (more…)

Operations and project work is bridged by organizational project management (OPM). Projects better serve the organizations when there is a better fit between project work and the strategic plan. The organization benefits if high-value projects are executed well so the ongoing operations can use the project outcome.

How do project managers go about answering the question of what value does their project provide the organization? The answer to that question from a project manager is pretty tactical; just align the project to either the program goals, or the business case.

So what’s a pragmatic and practical approach to get this done? Use some standard tools available in our project management toolkit. They are:

Project Alignment Tools and Techniques

• Charter that states high-level business, mission and project requirements

• Scope alignment with business case intent and content

• Product/service requirements alignment with high-level requirements

In practice we have some challenges. Some BIG challenges. What are they?

Project Alignment obstacles

• Lack of business case

• Multiple stakeholders with conflicting needs

• Missing charter

• Adverse Internal Organizational Environmental Factors

• Challenges in Risk Analysis

o Missing, or

o Forced silence

• Organizational Change Management impact analysis isn’t included

Did I get this obstacles list correct? What is missing? I welcome your comments.

Copyright 2009 PM Perspectives LLC