Online Project as a Submarine: The First Entry in a Disastrous Diary
OK, you’ve got my perspective on what’s the most important word in project management. If you are a can-do person – and as a project manager is mandatory to have this attitude, and to be a solution seeker – then you probably had enough of de-motivational talk. But push yourself a little bit harder, and imagine this: the sponsor, the boss, the big chief, the supreme commander, or whoever with a significant larger salary, and a higher position than yours, calls you for a specific, unique, assignment. So far, so good.
Instead of using some painful real world examples (like: “We need a site like Amazon.com by the mid of this year”) let’s use the same analogy between a project and a submarine. So, the admiral calls you, a submarine captain and orders: “Take your crew and discover an island like the one from this picture, in two weeks”. You take a look at the picture: looks familiar… in fact, all you can see is just a white sandy beach – and you automatically think: how hard this may be – there may be thousand islands like this in Pacific, right?
Right now is when the disaster usually strikes, but it will manifest when it’s too late. So inexperienced project managers or rookie sub captains, are totally unaware that they are already in deep trouble.
Obviously, the admiral doesn’t have to spend the whole day to explain you what exactly are the characteristics of the island (like the size, the flora, natural resources, etc) – he has more important things to attend. Besides, you are supposed to be a smart guy, who immediately figures out things, right? So, you immediately approve him and think of setting sail ASAP as two weeks will fly like a breeze. At this point is irrelevant that neither you, nor any of your crew members have sailed into an ocean.
From my experience and from what I have seen so far in numerous online projects, dialogues like the above one happens way too often. Rushing things too soon, brings a lack of clarity in knowing the right destination. Or, in project management terms a poor defined scope – what it is and equally important what is not – will bring pain to everyone. Period.
But let’s dive a little more into our imaginary scenario: you have set sail, for ten days now. You spot an island which seems to have the white sandy beaches: you are positive this is a success and you are already thinking of receiving a medal. In total disbelief, you learn that the admiral is furious: he keeps asking where are the palms… but you don’t remember any of those in his picture.
Obviously, now it’s the last moment time to ask your superior all the details. After picking admiral’s brains, you change course, but the crew already has started to doubt your capacity to lead them. After ten more days, with the resources almost depleted and well beyond schedule, you finally spot another island: this time it the full package, as per admiral’s instructions.
But, almost like a curse, the disaster strikes again. The end user, the one who will manage the island, refuses to sign-off… as there are no sources of fresh water, and it seems that nobody from the Marine HQ ever bothered to ask him.
Unfortunately stories like this one happens. It happened in my life.
Please keep in mind this is just an analogy. The so-called island might be a website, which – almost like an iceberg – has most of its volume hidden, and the process of discovering what’s important requires discipline and a step by step approach. Sometimes these steps are counterintuitive – will talk about those later.
To find out what you should do first and foremost for a smoother journey, please check my other post on what’s the first thing to look for in a project.
For more tips, hints, and updates follow me on Twitter here.
{ 5 trackbacks }
{ 0 comments… add one now }