3 Signs Your Organization Isn’t PM Ready

 

by Dave Wakeman, PMP

On a recent visit to Reddit, I noticed a trend from some project managers—who were asking questions about how you can tell if your company is doing project management all wrong.

That got me thinking about some signs that an organization doesn’t have a healthy PM culture—and three big ones came to mind. Do you experience any of these where you work?

1. No idea why the role of project manager is key to a project’s success: I believe we’ve all been there—we see someone assigned as the project lead due to being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Why do I say that? Because just throwing out the PM assignment is never a case of being in the right place at the right time.

This is truly the biggest warning sign that an organization isn’t project manager ready—they just have no definition of why the role of PM is so important to a project’s success.

Instead of having a clear expectation of the PM’s role with a defined process in place to help with achieving specific goals (including communication expectations, a definition of success, and an understanding of how the project ties into the organization’s strategy), the organization basically sticks its hand into a paper bag with pieces of paper, drawing one name out. (Or worse.)

Beware!

2. No clear definition of success: This one seems to take hold in a lot of organizations, and it is usually coupled with the impression that “I’ll know it when I see it.”

This kind of attitude almost guarantees failure. There are exceptions where a project comes together well without this definition in place—but that is very rare.

Why? Because without an understanding of what success looks like, any direction is a good direction.

This can be frustrating for all stakeholders, because when pressed for objectives or measures, a lot of time the feedback comes back as fluffy terms that aren’t related to the project’s success like “man hours,” “activities” or something else.

Bad project organizations judge success by “feel.” Good project organizations judge success with metrics.

That way, you can say, “We hit our target. Here is why…”; or, “We missed the mark. Here’s why, and here is what we can do to change it next time…”

3. No resource investment tied to specific projects: This is one I’ve been blindsided by in the past.

Why? Because I’ve fallen prey to the answer, “Whatever it takes!”

Trust me: “Whatever it takes!” is never actually “Whatever it takes!”

Organizations without a project culture underestimate the resources needed to make a project successful. This leads them to offer “commitments” or “promises.”

Most of the time, when a PM tries to cash in on those “promises” and “commitments,” it is impossible. The resources aren’t actually available.

This stands in contrast with an organization that is built for project management—where you have the scope, you know what success is going to look like, and you have a clear understanding of the resources that are going to be needed to hit the project’s objectives.

Does this mean that there are never changes or limits to the resources available? No. Not even close.

What this does mean is that a good project organization starts with some base level of commitment of resources, not just “commitments” and “promises.”

To me, every project requires these minimums from an organization in order to give success a chance:

1. An appreciation of the role of the PM. You are a leader, not a magician.
2. A clear definition of success, not just platitudes.
3. Resources. Maybe not everything I wanted, but more than “promises” or “commitments.”

I’m curious what things you have noticed that set an organization’s projects up for failure. Let us know in the comments below.