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Date
In a prior post, I promised to provide more detail and some examples from the outstanding book by Kris Kohl, "Becoming a Sustainable Organization".
In this post I would like to start at the beginning - with the Project Charter. Kris has done what I have proposed to PMI in 18 proposed changes to the PMBOK® Guide, 6th Edition. I'm not sure how many (if any) made it into that new edition, expected in the third quarter of this year, but whether or not they did, they share the exact same "DNA" as Kris' template for a "Sustainability Project Charter", or as I would like to call it, "The Project Charter". So that's one of my points - there is no need to have a 'special-interest' charter. All project charters should have this long-term consideration built in.
Yes, sustainability, like quality, should be 'built in', not 'bolted on'. The documents and methods we use to manage projects should, in and of themselves, contain the long-term thinking, the focus on benefits realization, the considerations of the triple bottom line.
In her Table 5-1, Kris, for example, adds to the section on "Project Goals and Desired Outcome":
Consider:
- Long-term impacts
- Internal & external impacts
- Environmental & social impacts
- Behavior change
- Policy & process change
Under "Benefits",
- Outline the goals of the project and alignment with business & sustainable strategy.
These very simple changes appear minor, but they enable a sea-change in mindset. Later in this same section about the project charter, Kohl says:
Following are some questions to consider when integrating sustainability into projects:
- How are sustainability issues integrated into strategic planning?
- What areas of sustainability are being addressed through project selection
- How can sustainability be incorporated into project concept formulation?
Now, because this part of the book is about launching a 'sustainability project', what could get lost in context is the fact that a so-called Sustainability Project Charter can and should apply to all projects.
Let's take an example. Let's say you are the PM for a project to build a new, fairly long stretch of interstate highway. That project can, and should, consider not only the objective of building the highway but also the objective of improving the safety and fuel efficiency of vehicles driving on that highway. The drivers on the highway are clearly key stakeholders. So, if for example, a choice must be made between two materials to use for paving the highway, one of which is more costly - for argument's sake, 40% more expensive - but provides better grip for tires, and improved mileage, the decision to select the pricier material becomes (correctly) the better choice - for the very reason that the charter (the guiding document) advises the project team to consider long-term impacts.
I know if I was a taxpayer/driver stakeholder in a project like this, I would want the highway project to serve me in the long-term by keeping me alive (through the better-gripping surface) and providing me with lasting savings (through greater fuel efficiency) as well as lowering the ecological impact, even if the 40% higher price for paving drives the project cost to be 10% higher.
Again: it's about long-term thinking... and benefits realization. And it starts with the project charter building in sustainability, not trying to bolt it on later as an afterthought.
Posted
by
Richard Maltzman
on: March 23, 2017 11:31 PM |
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