We're a 3-person development team in a company that has no project management process. Our last project was built w/o any defined scope or objectives and re-built several times--each time a manager had a "brain spasm". Our team is demoralized and frustrated. Our self-declared team leader (by tenure) maintains "this is the way its always been, this is the way it always will be." I've tried to initiate some project management, but the team leader has blocked all my efforts. Management is non-committal and is trying to placate everyone involved.
What can I do? Can the situation be salvaged? Saving Changes...
Andy JordanPresident| Roffensian Consulting S.A.Cherry Grove, AB, Canada
Oh the memories!!!
Project Management is a hard sell to people who don't realize what it can do - "we didn't need it last time and we delivered" (you can't be late or have a completely changed scope if you didn't have a plan to start with).
In my experience there is only one way to win people over, but many ways to do it. The only thing you can do is prove the worth of project management (not a project manager at this stage). Choose an area that you can guarantee a quick win and implement it - change management or risk management are frequently quoted examples.
Sell it as 'just let me try this', you can do most of the work, so there shouldn't be much resistance from others and it is probably going to be a fairly obvious win for you - everyone should be able to see the benefits. Once you have succeeded, expand a little and soon you will be implementing a number of core project management processes.
