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.