Announcement: Measure of Success

Five Successes

The leading contenders for the concept of a measure of success have five themes, according to an analysis of some beholders’ perspectives:

• The investor needs a return on their investment while remaining within the confines of their commercial reality – do the right thing.
• The PM’s boss wants the job done right, with guarantees of time, expense, and efficiency – and a peaceful life.
• The team’s technicians are looking for a fun challenge that will help them expand their skill set and improve their resume/cv.
• The project’s beneficiaries do not want change or disruption to their daily routines, particularly if it will have a negative impact on any bonuses or rewards.
• The project manager needs everybody involved to be satisfied for as long as possible, and ideally everyone at the same time, as the project progresses through completion, termination, and final payments (even for in-house notional-payment projects).

To achieve success, follow these steps:

1^St step

Establish a common understanding of what is desired and what limitations are actually present in the minds of the stakeholders. This necessitates the investor’s presence in order for them to communicate their desires.

Encourage discussion on how to execute while meeting as many real-world constraints as possible – this does not include the intervention of the investor: The job breakdown model is necessary here, as is a process chart, followed by a resource levelled Gantt map, flow chart, or Kanban board.

2^nd Step

Return the trade-offs between concurrent, conflicting constraints to the investor, who will arbitrate between options. Repeat steps 1 and 2 as required during the product life cycle, whether it is conventional, agile, lean, or a combination. When everybody is happy with the degree of ambiguity they’ve agreed to, move on; when they’re not, pause.

3^rd Step

Send the technical people off to figure out the “how,” and take the investor to explain how the new bonus and reward plans will apply to the recipients, as well as how existing working habits will be transformed. As an opportunity, danger, or problem arises, repeat steps 1 and 2.

See full story on arraspeople.co.uk