As mentioned in the first post in the #backtobasics series, project management, product management, delivery management, release management, iteration management, whatever title is used, it’s often too complicated. For anyone working across the spectrum of delivery - product, service, technical or non - the work we do, the challenges we face, the changes we have to drive, are complex enough on their own. A plethora of methods, frameworks and tooling often only add to the complexity, yet they are relied upon for order, discipline, and structured delivery of organizational initiatives. I would be the first to caution against oversimplifying the practice of project delivery. It is not simple, but anything that makes the experience much more difficult than it needs to be, warrants careful consideration.

So if not the methods, what are the real drivers of project success?

The basic foundations of success start and end with people. Influencing, motivating, and guiding them. Unleashing the power, creativity, and capability only people can provide. The processes and systems are there to support them, but the focus has to be people-centered. When you understand what drives people, you understand and tap into the age-old secrets of success and not just in project delivery, but in many other aspects of life. I’ve witnessed different dimensions and incarnations of these foundational drivers, foundational because they serve as a base to build upon. In and of themselves I doubt they would fully yield the outcomes expected, but without them, I know for certain you’ll have a hot mess. Let’s start with foundational driver #1: Simplicity.

Perhaps it is partly due to the fact that a number of projects I’ve led focused on process analysis and optimization, often in the form of workflow automation system implementations. There is a real beauty in taking highly complex, routine, time-consuming, labor intensive processes and delivering solutions that dramatically simplify them. Empowering end-users with capabilities that allow them to operate much more efficiently and focus on other, more value-added activities rather than inane, boring and rote tasks. It’s ironic how we’ve struggled to do that for project management more specifically and professional services more broadly, at least not yet. I learned early on that simplicity is a game changer when it comes to driving success on projects.
The other profoundly beautiful thing about simplicity is that it provides visibility and clarity. When you have clarity, it eliminates confusion and circular conversations. You empower teams to move forward with confidence. I am often brought onto in-flight projects that are in distress and highly at risk. They are failing, defense mechanisms in full gear, and morale low. There is so much confusion and complexity, rarely can anyone answer two simple questions: why is the project failing and how do you know? The project devolves into the blame-game, finger-pointing, no one can explain anything scenario. Time is running out. The backlog might as well be Mt. Everest and we’re not even at base camp.

Simplicity is where we start the journey of project recovery. Simplify the workload, simplify the reporting, simplify whatever project delivery processes you can. In some cases, simplifying the workload meant stopping all new feature development sprints. The development teams would only work on resolving critical production incidents if they emerged. This allowed the teams to focus on articulating where the pain points, impediments and frustrations lay and more importantly, suggestions for solutions.  Simplifying the reporting often meant prioritizing the top one or two metrics that were important to the customer and modifying reporting structures accordingly. Simplifying delivery processes can run the gamut and should be tailored to context. In one case, we modified how user stories were written and reviewed, as well as the process to green-light them during grooming. It was a top priority to ensure quality expectations were met every time going forward. We didn’t follow the standard prescriptions of any project framework. We figured out as a team, an effective way to ensure quality as defined by the client.

Simplicity, put simply, works. Stay tuned for the next post in this series, a closer look at the impact of ingenuity in project management.

For a more in-depth look into the power of simplicity, read more at Medium.com.