Dear friends,
I read an article recently with the title of "Project Management in the Real World". Without considering its content, do you think the title is correct or not? Everyone knows the project definition according to the PMBOK standard, also there are some standards to apply for managing projects. If we accept the title of the article above is correct, it means some of the standards like PMBOK, PRIENC2, ... are just academic, and they are not useful in the real world. Saving Changes...
Standards, methods and other approaches are not simply thrown out the window in real world projects. When referring to any article or title relating to real world project management - it is often in the context of things not going to plan or being messier than we would expect from the onset.
Many with family or friends who have served in the military will recall sarcastic acronyms such as "SNAFU", essentially conveying that things are not going according to plan.
This is not just an element to watch for in project controlling, but even exists in planning as well.
PMOs working on internal projects may enjoy periods of relative smooth sailing. But find themselves in rougher seas when managing for outside of the enterprise, such as a new business client.
Terminology common within the organization or to project managers in general may seem like an alien language to any client without PM experience or their own PMO.
One example - your PMO must meet with the new client to determine the path to upgrade their accounting system.
During the meeting with the client they wonder why you're mentioning "upgrade" as the system they use is End-of-Life. They expected your input to help in their Make-it/Buy-it decision for the new accounting system. The client point of contact was the CFO, but the busy executive directed your meeting to be with an AP/AR manager who was not properly informed of your involvement.
Had your PMO known this information prior to the meeting you would have enlisted the assistance of relevant SMEs such as business analysts and system or software engineers.
Although the buy-it or build-it choice can be treated as an upgrade path from a technical point of view and you figure out what needs to be done. The client may see this initial miscommunication or misunderstanding as a sign of trouble if procuring further management services from your organization. Even though there was no fault of yours in communication.
Viewing projects through the lens of our chosen approach things appear smooth and uncluttered like riding a bicycle down a freshly-paved road. But the reality of projects are closer to walking down a gravel road at night without a good flashlight.
Even the most rigorous planning and communication will not ensure a stumble free journey, after all we're only human. Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
Each person in this world is performing project management from the time they wake up to the time they go to bed. In fact, I have performed courses for people I called "projects for all" where I teached project management using the PMI way and daily life study cases like to plan a wedding. With that said, the point is how much formality you need to perform project management. Here is where organizations select a guide (PMBOK) or a method (PRINCE2) or any others like IPMA or GPM. Guides or methods are not academic. Guides or methods, maily everything that is a BOK (BABOK, SWEBOK, SEBOK, EABOK, etc) are a set of practices that could help to do not reinvent the wheel when you need to perform project/program/portfolio management but you can not follow it. For example, in my case, I used other things than stated into the PMBOK to peform project requirements management or project stakeholders management. Saving Changes...
Regardless of the standard or method used, tailoring of practices to fit the context of a project and the culture of the organization and team is critical. The author's title might be an acknowledgement that trying to apply standards and methods "as is" is often a recipe for disaster.
I think the title can be correct that PM in the real world is not the same as academia, but the assumption that the standards are not applicable in the real world is incorrect.
Those who try to follow the standards like a cook book are likely to struggle to tailor them to real world situations. Those who understand the calculus behind the methods, can apply them far more broadly, and effectively.
George Box wrote, "All models are wrong, but some are useful." The standards are models. While they are not perfect, they still have great utility. Saving Changes...
