People, Planet, Profits & Projects

I’m smack in the middle of the center of gravity of our discipline of project management.  At this moment, although Boston is, of course,The Hub of the Universe, the center of the project management profession is right here in downtown Atlanta, Georgia in the US, thanks to the PMI Global Summit 2023.

 The theme – and the very atmosphere – at the PMI Global Summit is AI.  It’s in the Exhibit Hall, it’s in the sessions, it’s in gigantic letters and imagery on the signage. 

It is LITERALLY a hot-button. Conventioneers are wearing buttons that say “PMI x AI”.

So I thought I would look at the intersection of AI, PM, and Sustainability by running a little experiment.

I asked ChatGPT, which, like all Generative AI systems, I call a “clumsy assistant ™”, to help me as the director of a GPMO, how can I shift the mindset of my PM population to a more holistic, long-term project perspective.

And now, I let the experiment unfold before your very “A Eyes”.

Rich (the human) enters:

I am a director in a global project management office for a large company with over 3000 project managers. I am trying to shift the mindset of our project managers from only thinking of scope, time, and cost, to thinking past the end of their project - thinking about the project's outcome in the steady state. What do you suggest?

CHATGPT SAYS:

Shifting the mindset of project managers from a narrow focus on scope, time, and cost to a more holistic perspective that considers the project's outcomes in the steady state is a crucial step for ensuring long-term success and value delivery. Here are some strategies you can employ to help your project managers make this shift:

1. Communicate the Importance of Long-Term Outcomes: Start by communicating the significance of thinking beyond project completion. Emphasize how the project's success is ultimately measured by its impact on the organization's long-term goals, customer satisfaction, and sustainability.
2. Provide Training and Education: Offer training and educational resources to help project managers understand the broader context of their projects. This can include courses on change management, business strategy, and post-project evaluation.
3. Set Clear Expectations: Ensure that your organization's expectations for project managers include a focus on post-project outcomes and benefits realization. Make it clear that successful project delivery goes beyond meeting time, scope, and cost constraints.
4. Incorporate Benefits Realization Management (BRM): Implement a Benefits Realization Management framework within your project management processes. This framework helps project managers track and ensure the achievement of desired business outcomes.
5. Align Projects with Strategic Goals: Help project managers understand how their projects fit into the organization's strategic objectives. When project managers see the connection between their projects and the bigger picture, they are more likely to consider long-term outcomes.
6. Measure and Reward Benefits Realization: Implement a system for measuring the success of projects not just at completion but also in the steady state. Tie performance evaluations and incentives to benefits realized, not just project completion metrics.
7. Encourage Collaboration and Cross-Functional Teams: Foster collaboration between project managers and other departments, especially those responsible for maintaining and operating the project's deliverables in the steady state. Cross-functional teams can help identify potential issues and opportunities beyond project completion.
8. Regularly Review and Update Project Charters: Project charters should explicitly state the long-term goals and expected outcomes of the project. Regularly review and update these documents to ensure alignment with the organization's evolving strategies.
9. Provide Tools and Resources: Equip project managers with tools and resources that enable them to track and assess outcomes in the steady state. This might include post-implementation reviews, benefits tracking software, or impact assessment methodologies.
10. Share Success Stories: Highlight and share success stories of projects that have led to significant, positive changes in the organization's steady state. This can serve as inspiration for project managers to adopt a more outcome-focused mindset.
11. Encourage a Culture of Continuous Improvement: Foster a culture that values learning from both successes and failures. Encourage project managers to evaluate the long-term impacts of their projects and apply lessons learned to future initiatives.
12. Lead by Example: As a director, lead by example and demonstrate the importance of thinking about outcomes in the steady state. Show that you prioritize benefits realization and support project managers in this shift.

By implementing these strategies, you can help project managers develop a more comprehensive view of their projects and drive a mindset shift towards achieving and sustaining positive outcomes in the steady state.

Then, I told ChatGPT that a “self-proclaimed expert” had given me some advice, and gave ChatGPT its own advice back, asking it to validate it and give its opinion as to how good an answer the self-proclaimed expert (i.e. ChatGPT!) gave me.  Here is what I got back:

CHATGPT SAYS

The advice provided by the self-proclaimed expert is well-rounded and aligns with best practices for shifting project managers' mindsets towards considering long-term outcomes in the steady state. It emphasizes a holistic perspective and offers a comprehensive set of strategies to achieve this shift.

Overall, the strategies provided in the expert's response align with best practices for making this important mindset shift within your organization. It's a comprehensive approach that addresses various aspects of the transformation, from communication and education to measurement and culture development. Implementing these strategies should contribute to your goal of ensuring long-term success and value delivery in your projects.

It did make some slight tweaks, but mostly cosmetic and of little impact.  But it did make some adjustments.

In  Part 2, I will share another conversation where we can see that ChatGPT is helpful, but clumsy.  This is why I think the best way to work with it is to imagine a brilliant intern helping you in the lab.  They think of chemical reactions you would NEVER imagine.  They are creative and seem to have tons of chemistry knowledge at their fingertips.  However, sometimes they knock over a whole rack of test tubes, and inadvertently create explosive reactions that release toxic fumes (see the blog's main photo above). 

What is AI?  It's a Clumsy Assistant™. 

In Part 2, I'll continue with a theme that is emerging here at the conference.  To stay relevant as AI becomes more 'atmospheric', you, (yes, you, the very person reading this), must be more human.