PMcrunch

In these tough economic times, it will be quite a challenge for so many of us to make it through the year with a strong financial performance. I have been thinking about what some of the keys are to ensuring that 2009 is a solid year. The best conclusion I have is that the customer is king. Here are my thoughts.

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Organizations of all sizes have been taking a much closer look at their project portfolios in these tough times. One of the bigger questions is “where does innovation fit in in the portfolio?” There are some interesting ideas around this and organizations must reckon with the fact that decisions about innovation could very well set the stage for the future of the company. At the same time, we must reckon with the fact that, in order to reach a future, we must be financially sound through the crisis. I have been thinking a bit about the relationship between innovation and portfolio management in tough times.

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As project and program managers, we are leaders within organizations. Indeed, we lead small, smaller, organizations that are subsets of the larger organizations. As such, we are responsible for making decisions, and in the process, we need to define ourselves. Let’s take a look at this concept.

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It’s human nature to stay with what is familiar, even when we know that a big change is needed. The prospect of venturing into the unknown comes with fear and risk. Tough times, like that presented by our current economic climate, might make changing necessary.

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Basic project management teaches us that quality is defined by meeting requirements, but not exceeding them. If we deliver more than what the customer asked for, it is considered to be gold plating – a bad thing. The premise is that there is a balance as per the triple constraint among quality, cost and schedule, and that it is the job of the project manager to manage that balance. In these tough times, however, how can a project manager produce excellence and in essence exceed customer expectations without gold plating?

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There is no doubt about it we are in tough economic times. The current woes on Wall Street are only the most recent evidence of our collective economic difficulties. So the big question is how do project and program mangers cope with these difficult times. Many fear the loss of jobs and extended time away from work. This includes team members, it can include stake holders, it can include the project and program managers themselves. It is this fear that is one of the important keys to coping with difficult times.

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As Project Managers, our propensity to assess and manage risks needs to align with our understanding of the level of leadership required on the project. We need to understand clearly the range and depth of our responsibilities on the project in order to effectively manage risk. Otherwise, our risk management program may be over or under what is really required. Here’s my thinking on why.

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Outsourcing is a sensitive topic that presses some hot buttons and brings out some emotions. I have seen lots of forum posts on the topic of outsourcing, and find it especially interesting that forum or blog posts often have more comments than any other topic! Obviously, it is gaining a lot of attention and generating a lot of interest. Just like hiring an employee, outsourcing requires attention.

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