KYPB – Know your project buddy

 Yet another brainstorming session

James Anderson, a veteran on Project Management, scribbled  59 , 47 and 44  numbers on the whiteboard  in an intense brainstorming session and asked his audience to weave these non-sequential random numbers in a thrilling story about the success of much hyped IT projects, with an inquisitive gaze and infectious smile. Looking at the blank faces around, he emphatically quoted the McKinsy report –“ regardless of project size, 59% of all IT projects are completed within budget, 47% are completed on time, and 44% deliver the intended benefits.” He further added as per the observation of Capgemini Research Institute, 67% of the digital transformation initiatives fail to meet their goals, primarily because they focus too much on technology and too little on culture, capabilities, and customer value. There is plethora of data available signifying the challenges of the IT Projects and highlighting the criticality of the effective project for successful execution

These brainstorming sessions to find the magical wand that can fix the challenges of the project execution through templatised method and sound mechanism is going on for quite a good number of years in the various of parts of the world. Despite the evolution of methodologies, availability of certification programs to sharpen project management skills, there is no significant positive change in the outcome of the project over a period of time. When I go back to my Project Management days and try to see the shades of learning in the mirror of experience , I find  myself in conflict with the generally agreed view that the solution of the ineffective project management lies in a strong and comprehensive methodology. It is difficult to pinpoint with data, however it is not a rocket science to see the shadow of the negative impact of  the poor project management on the project outcome despite untiring efforts of the entire team. 

KYPB (Know your project buddy)

In my humble opinion, which is off course baked in the toils of the warring zone of project management of yesteryears, Project Manager’s ability to understand and comprehend the technicalities involved for the successful completion of the project at hand determines the quality and the time taken for the journey. I call this skill as “KYPB” (Know your project buddy) –A project manager without understanding the visible contours and invisible troughs of the project path cannot make effective usage of the best possible project methodology or even  can identify the project critical path. The possible absence of the mentioned skill will not only block the visibility of the hidden risks of the journey and  will also decimate his/her’s confidence level to communicate the complexity of the  challenges and the possible work arounds with the crystal clear view,  leading to the vicious cycle of customer dissatisfaction and conflicts. As  a result ironically, role of the project manager in a transformation project reduces to a postman, delivering the message without understanding the content and the need of delivery.

Project Methodology – Waterfall, Agile or HYBRID 2.0(Right & Smart)

There is a constant and continuous debate going on about the fitment of the project methodology for the digital transformation projects. In the recent surveys published by the various firms, it has been observed that that success rate of Agile Methodology is much higher than the traditional Waterfall methodology. Agile methodology is lean, iterative, more flexible with minm. documentation requirements compared to the traditional document heavy Waterfall methodology that requires comprehensive documentation leading to rigidity in terms of the design of the solution and managing customer’s request for changes.

I have a firm belief , that for the large transformational project with multiple entities and countries, Agile may not be the best of the methodology to work with. We should choose the right hybrid model without sacrificing the essence of the Agile methodology – Adaptive , Flexible and Lean. It is also a myth that bringing in lot of documentations and process audits would improve the quality of deliverables. We need to smartly identify and mix the right quantum of documentation in the agile approach for the desired result of Value Creation for the Customers. It is important to be cognizant of the reality that bringing in lot of compliance documentations and checklists will not only slow down the pace of project but will also create a sub-project within the large project only for the sake of compliance without the necessary value creation for the customers. Very recently, I observed a project where the project was executed with deep focus on the quality of the documentation and compliance processes, missing the big elephant in the room that is  quality and completeness of the solution. Needless to say despite the diligent and time consume testing and necessary multilevel approvals by the compliance agency it failed when rubber met the road

Project Management and the Artificial Intelligence 

We have already ushered into the era of application of AI to solve the business problems and many mundane issues of life . Like other business areas, Project Management tools such as ClickUp ,  Wrike , Motion are already enabled with the power AI to do various tasks such as automatic scheduling, risk assessment, early warning etc.. According to Gartner report, it is predicted that by 2030, 80% of today's project management tasks will be eliminated as Artificial Intelligence (AI) takes over traditional functions. This brings me back to the first skill I discussed in the article ,”KYPB”. Project managers need to equip themselves with the technical and functional nuances of the mentioned skillset. The deep understanding of the project would enable them to augment their skillset with smart AI tools or else, perhaps will be replaced by the same AI tool down the line.

Best Practices - Oration to Adoption : All Hype, No Heart

 It was breezy , bustling Monday afternoon, sun was drifting  lazily in the Mumbai’s sprawling light grey sky,  creating fragmented shadows on the narrow footpath like slowly moving images  on the dusty canvass  . I hurried towards the imposing  glass tower across the road and  walked silently in the direction of  reception area asking for the meeting room where  much awaited Digital Transformation Project will be formally Kicked Off by the leadership in the next 15 minutes.

The boardroom was almost full, the excitement was palpable in the air, people were chatting casually while the laptop was getting connected with presentation screen. After a brief moment of awkward silence, Chris, the CHRO,  wearing a pleasant smile started the customary speech with electrifying passion and intensity, underscoring the need for the digital transformation for the organisations’ continuous growth.He emphasized and asserted  to seize this opportunity and tranform the existing business processes to improve efficiency by adopting the the Best Practices. The meeting ended with the ceremonial cake cutting and usual exchange of best wishes  and pleasantries

I came out thinking about the interesting  and ubiquitous business jargons without which the corporate conversations seem vapid, shallow and incomplete What intrigued me most is the  statement about the “Best Practices Adoption”  and I wondered how easily it will be forgotten during the project journey from boardroom to operational war zones. The baggage of prior experience reminded me - Hey! “Its All Hat No Cattle”,  but a new sapling of hope emerged from no where in the tiny corner of the heart and whispered – Be Hopeful, this time it will be different, CHRO’s wishes will be translated into reality. 

The Bible of Best Practices 

Best Practices documents  that are often referred to in the business conversations as a panacea of all ills are not the God’s revelation to the humanity or any codified constitution – it is a repository of subject matters’ experts  experiences, opinions  and advises  with or without measurable evidence that may help the organizations to standardize and streamline the business processes making significant positive impact on process efficiency , effectiveness and user experience.  

The adoption of Best Practices is no doubt the most important ingredient of the recipe for digital transformation but ironically more often than not organizations prefer the existing processes over the best practices advised by their transformation business partners. They defend the choice passionately , stating that the processes are unique to the organisation culture and cannot be modified or transformed.  Most of the organisations despite the announcements in the meeting rooms, do not measure or track the adoption of best practices as a critical success criteria for the successful project completion.

Oration to Adoption- Challenges 

The oration to adoption journey of best practice is difficult and is marred by dissenting voices of the followers of “Status Quo”.This resistance to any potential change is not a new phenomenon , it is deeply rooted in human psychology.  William Samuelson and Richard Zeckhauser coined the term “Status quo bias” in 1988 to explain this behaviour, which is defined as the preference for maintaining one’s current situation and opposing actions that may change the state of affairs. 

According to Gartner survey , only one in three (32%) mid-to-senior level business leaders said that the last change they led achieved healthy change adoption by employees. In my humble opinion the percentage comes further down when the change is driven through technology. It is further mentioned in the same report that leaders use inspiration and the vision of change to get employees to adopt change, however it was observed that the inspirational approach only works when there is high change trust. When change trust is low, Gartner’s model predicts that only one-quarter of changes led by inspirational leaders would achieve healthy change adoption

Some of the factors that contribute to the poor adoption of Best Practices in the business organizations are mentioned below.

1- Fear of Change  - People prefer to stay in the comfort zone of status quo due do multiplicity of reasons that include fear of unknown , possible  loss of control, lack of trust etc.

2- Weak Stakeholders – The stakeholders are either not empowered or do not have the inherent leadership quality to drive the changes in the organisation.

3- Non Availability or Lack of Supervision by Organisational Leadership – Many a times, leadership team does not have the bandwidth to review the project vis-à-vis the underlined objectives defined and declared during project kick off meeting.

4- Transformation Partner Competency – The poor adoption  of Best Practices is also contributed by the lack of transformation partners’ competency to drive the changes smartly through structured process.

5- Organisation Culture  – Organisation culture also plays critical role in adoption of the new changes.

6- Change Fatigue - Many a times Customer resistance also stems from the barrage of continuous changes organisation has undergone in recent past without  successful and meaningful result.

Conclusion

The adoption of best practices is necessary for the organisations to outperform the market. It is a continuous process and might require tweaking due to changes in the internal and external conditions. For leadership vision like Chris to succeed it needs to be measured and tracked during the project journey and afterwards.  The success does not lie in copying the process and retrofitting it in organisation framework – the best practices should be harmonized to seamlessly fit in the Organisation without sacrificing the essence and objective. 

Reference - https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2025-07-08-gartner-hr-research-finds-just-32-percent-of-business-leaders-report-achieving-healthy-change-adoption-by-employees