Most of us probably take for granted that the application of a Project Management methodology to projects is a good idea. But what are some of the reasons you have heard or you imagine might explain why some resist or do not use a PM methodology? Saving Changes...
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Fear mostly. People view the deliberate and controlling nature of any methodology as restrictive and an overhead. Also, in a lot of companies the ability to adhere to standards and processes is not part of the culture, so there are massive barriers to implementing a methodology across the organisation. Oddly, in a lot of organisations that are not project-oriented by nature (IT, Construction etc.) the very business units that require projects to further their success, see that project management is the domain of suppliers and internal IT department. Saving Changes...
I would agree with fear, and overhead if someone has tried to sell in a proprietary project management system. However to say that construction does not use a PM methodology is counter to my experience. In that specific case reason would be because there is a multidisciplinary team (main contractor, M&E etc. etc.) all of which could have their own proprietary systems for managing their work package. Imposing a highly structured structured methodology across the board would be less effective than superimposing a coordinating methodology to allow the team to work effectively on their own packages. Saving Changes...
Mark Price PerryBusiness Driven PMO Evangelist| BOT InternationalOrlando, Fl, United States
Two often cited reasons why organizations do not use a PM Methodology are 1) the organization is not mature enough from a CMM perspective to effectively use a methodology, and 2) the organization has had a bad or failed experience in implementing a PM Methodology. Let's take the first case. Being CMM level 1 does not mean that the organization is incompetent. There are many reasons why an organization may be at a CMM level 1 - new business, constant business plan change, limited funding and resources, the attitudes of management and the owners. Ideally, if the business survives and grows, opportunities to invest in the business can potentially enable CMM maturity and the successful adoption of methodologies, processes, and best practices. This can take years and can be a difficult journey especially when pursued with minimal resources and management commitment. In the second case, many organizations have had a very bad experience implemeting PM Methodologies. And regrettably, many people confuse PM Methodology with the PM Methodology Solution. The PM Methodology is the approach, say PMBOK, and the PM Methodology Solution is the implementation of the approach. For example, you can have a PM Methodology Solution in the form of a 300 page PDF document accompanied by a collection of PM Templates placed on a LAN shared drive. Many organizations that try to follow a PM Methodology with such "static" PM artifacts get frustrated and fail miserably. It wasn't that they could not have used and benefitted from a PM Methodology, just that their choice of PM Methodology Solution was too unwieldy, rigid, and simply not very usable or useful. But it probably was cheap or even free..! To the contrary, ask any customer of the leading PM Methodology Solutions such as BOT International's Processes On Demand, PM Solutions' PMCOP, IBM Rational's RUP, etc. if they would go back to or prefer the days of "static" PM Methodology Solutions or no PM Methodology at all, and you will get a very positive explanation of why they use, rather than resist, their PM Methodlogy. Hope this helps..! -- Mark Perry, Vice President of Customer Care, BOT International Saving Changes...
In my experience this is a "chicken and egg" thing. The companies that should be focussing the most on PM methodology, are not, and the more professional, successful ones (that aren't "cowboys") are focussing on it.
But which comes first?
Is it the fact that you make use of a methodolgy that makes you successful, or is it that the smart teams follow a methodology.
Would that smart team have succeeded anyway?
Can the wrong people for the job succeed given a strict methodology, will the right people succeed even if they do things the wrong way?
I believe you can't do the right thing with the wrong people. Saving Changes...
Andy JordanPresident| Roffensian Consulting S.A.Cherry Grove, AB, Canada
I agree with much of what has been said, but I think that there is also another factor at work here. Companies have a tendency to look for a solution to a specific problem - we don't estimate well for example, and look for quick fix solutions to that problem rather than trying to understand the larger factors at work. As a result they end up with a series of templates / processes / best practices which end up becoming the methodology - and usually leads to a bitter taste because it doesn't work very well (who'd have guessed???). An efficient methodology needs to address the cultural factors first and then be flexible enough to work with specific challenges, and evolve over time and maturity - you can't do bottom up building of methodologies. Saving Changes...
