PMcrunch

As project managers, we need to manage the resources and deliverables on our projects. In tough times we are often under pressure to deliver more with fewer resources. The question is "How can we cope with this? Is there a different way than just working harder, that we and our teammates can employ?"

My natural tendency in the past has been to simply work harder and faster. The problem is that using this approach I’ve had some successes but have also stumbled a few times. The problem is that oftentimes we put ourselves into a position of overpromising and underdelivering, even though in reality it feels like, and perhaps really is, overdelivering. By agreeing to simply deliver more with fewer resources, we are setting up higher expectations than, perhaps, we should. On the other hand, we need to assess whether it possible to actually deliver more than we previously thought was possible. That is our call and our challenge.

The more deliberate and advisable approach to this is to take a good hard look at all the deliverables and sub-deliverables, as well as the resource demands for each. We need to spend some time and do a great job of evaluating the cost and benefit of each of the deliverables. It may be that we can reduce our cost by 40% but only reduce our deliverables by 20% if we really give it some careful thought and consideration.

So, I would say that the way ahead here is not to work harder but, rather, to work smarter. It is actually not a matter of delivering more, but, actually, evaluating the possibility of delivering less. It can be very empowering to recommend the possibility of delivering less but with little effect on the desired impact, and with significant effect on cost.

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John Reiling, PMP
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