Successful Project-Based Work Relies on Centralized Communication

40 years ago this month, Apollo 13 experienced an in-flight explosion that prevented the third scheduled lunar landing and put the lives of astronauts Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert,and Fred Haise in danger.  The doomed mission's week in space captivated the world—including a much younger version of myself—while NASA's Mission Control and the three stranded astronauts feverishly worked to bring their crippled spacecraft home to earth.

For five days, the team worked together to overcome one obstacle after another, including the rationing of water and food while Lovell and his crew used the lunar module as a lifeboat.  Ultimately, the three astronauts safely returned to earth—a testament to the value of collaboration and the never-give-up attitude they all shared.

"It was a failure with regards to its initial mission, a success to the triumph of the people that suddenly were thrust upon a problem that they never anticipated, they never planned for, they never trained for, and were able to pull off successfully a successful recovery," said flight commander Jim Lovell.

Working together, the engineers at NASA's mission control demonstrated the value of centralizing information and communication (with significantly less sophisticated technology than we enjoy) to successfully execute critical projects—especially during times of crisis when project success is not a foregone conclusion.  Focused communication and the collaboration of everyone at NASA helped ensure that Apollo 13 returned home safely. 

Although the success of most of the projects we work on don't put lives in danger, we often face challenges that were neither anticipated nor planned for.  If project management software did nothing else but centralize project data, facilitate, encourage, and capture communication among project teams, most organizations could take a quantum leap forward in their work management practices and their ability to overcome obstacles.

With project teams spread throughout the world, team communication and collaboration is more important than ever.  Different time zones and different languages require us to take another look at how we capture and share project information.  What does your organization do to collect and store project data to ensure availability to all the members of the project team?