PMcrunch

Oftentimes, as  project managers and leaders, we are called upon to compare a variety of potential solutions and to either recommend or choose the best one for our situation. There are a variety of ways to do this. It is important for us to recognize that the answer we come up with is very closely related to the questions we ask and how we do the comparison. Many times—perhaps even most of the time—we do this comparisons in a relatively informal way, putting together our own structure. In other cases however, there is a much formalized organizational structure with a formal name such as "analysis of alternatives" that is performed.

The key to laying out a comparison like this is to do the very best we can to compare apples and apples. Given that this is a short post, I simply want to focus on one way that we might do this.

First, we certainly should gather all the information we can and research each possibility. This also involves identifying the key variables or decision factors that will have the most impact.

Second and most important from an idea stand point, is that one way to compare these alternatives after all the data is together is to hold and record interviews. In the case of selecting from among vendors, we can easily identify knowledgeable individual within the vendor organization to interview. In the case of internal alternatives, we may need to work just a little harder to identify someone who is highly knowledgeable and can very clearly represent what is offered by that alternative.

Having done the above, my idea is to interview the representatives of each of these alternatives as part of the selection process. Develop a list of structures questions based upon the key decision factors and ask each of these individuals for answers to these questions. Interview all of the target people within a limited timeframe and then put all these interviews together into one long audio then sit down with the team and listen to these one after the other. Some very strong differences should emerge and some clear themes regarding the decision should also emerge.

Traditionally our analysis involves pen and paper or word documents and spread sheets. Adding to this, the audio component can give us a reality check that I think is missing from the typical analysis.

John Reiling, PMP
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