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Project Management
Published by Tata McGraw-Hill Edition 2003
Author: Gary R Heerkens
Reviewed by G Sankaranarayanan, Management Book Readers’
Club, Chennai (Phone: 56133699) |
At the most basic level, a project is actually
the response to a need, a temporary endeavour, and a unique, one-time
undertaking—that is, it will never again be done exactly the
same way, by the same people, and within the same environment.
Almost all the books on project management agree
to this belief but few attempts to base the ground upon these realities,
the way Gary R Heerkens’ Project Management has done. This
book while chronicling the exploits of Brad, a fictional character,
who gets drawn into the project management reluctantly, but emerges
wanting more, deals the human aspects of project management (touching
the general “mechanics” of management only just adequately)
quite insightfully.
Every project must end with or without meeting
the end objectives. Here is Heerkens’ way of measuring what
does matter: “Following are the four levels of success that
I use: Level 1—Meeting Project Targets (Did the project meet
the original targets of cost, schedule, quality and functionality?
Although it’s certainly admirable to beat these targets, my
concept of success is tied to whether the project manager did what
was expected. In other words, maximum success is zero variance between
project targets and results). Level 2—Project Efficiency (How
well was the project managed? This is a metric for the process.
If the project meets its targets, but the customer groups, project
team, or others were adversely affected by the project experience,
the project will probably not be perceived as successful). Level
3—Customer or User Utility (To what extent did the project
fulfil its mission of solving a problem, exploiting an opportunity,
or otherwise satisfying a need?). Level 4—Organisational Improvement
(Did the organisation learn from the project? Is that knowledge
to improve the chances that future projects will succeed at each
of the three levels described above?).
Coming to the fundamental cause of a project—“desire”
or “need”, it is now time to understand the cause better.
The author, on how projects should evolve, says that projects typically
begin when we recognise that a need exists. “From this point
on, however, we can often become our own worst enemies—and
can lose control very rapidly—if we don’t follow a disciplined
approach. Why? Because we are human. When any of us spots a problem,
our natural tendency is to want to solve it right away—often
with the first solution that pops into our heads. That’s just
human nature. On the surface, this approach may seem admirable,
because it seems to resolve problems swiftly and decisively. Unfortunately,
it’s counterproductive to good project management,” Heerkens
explains, insisting on the need to fully understand the problem
or opportunity.
The author uses the term “true need”
which he refers to the most basic problem to be solved: “It’s
abso-lutely vital that you as the project manager understand what
the true need is. Why? Because many will judge you as a project
manager by your ability to solve the original problem.”
Brad, the newly appointed project manager, is
given a requirements document that identifies a need to install
an additional production line. Brad understands that one of the
most reliable methods for uncovering the true need is to ask the
right people one simple question: “Why?” But asking this
is a risk. If you ask questions rather than digging in and getting
the project going, some within your organisation may assume that
you are not moving forward. Read how Brad encounters some resistance:
“Bothered that he doesn’t understand the purpose for the
project, Brad returns to Susan’s office (his boss) and asks,
“Susan, can you tell me why we are putting in this production
line?” Susan thinks for a moment. “No. I can’t,”
she replies. “But Bill in Operations might be able to tell
you.”
Later that day, Brad gets the opportunity to
sit down with Bill and asks him the same question.
“Bill, can you tell me why you need an additional
production line?”
Bill looks quizzical. “Why are you asking,
Brad? I don’t understand why you are asking.”
“I’d just like to try to understand
the project a bit better,” Brad responds.
“OK,” says Bill, reluctantly. “Well,
we need another production line because we can’t meet the growing
demand with the four lines we have now.” Then he adds, “When
we put these lines in four years ago, we were anticipating an output
of about 800 units per week, but they only got the output up to
600 when we had to go online. It was not a problem until recently,
when we realised we would fall short of demand by the end of the
year. That’s why you have to put another line in right away.”
Brad feels as if he is one step closer to identifying
the true need. Then, in a bold move, he decides to try the magic
question one more time. “Why are you only getting 600 units
per week, Bill?” At this point, Bill has obviously had enough.
“If you need anymore information, go talk to Ann. She’s
the engineer who put these lines in.”
As Brad is leaving, Bill repeats, “Brad,
we really need you to get going on this new line right away, OK?”
Brad just nodes and smiles.
The author puts the emphasis next on finding
the right solution, which was arrived at after taking into consideration
the merits and demerits of various other alternative solutions.
There are several financial criteria put forward including net present
value (a calculation of the present value of all future cash flows
expected from a project), internal rate of return (the percentage
rate at which the project will bring a return on the investment),
payback period (the number of months or years the project will take
to recover the original investment). There could be certain non-financial
criteria for project selection.
The book moves on to the realm of project planning
as Brad progresses from one stage to another in the project management
life-cycle. Many people equate the plan with the schedule, but there
is much more to a plan than just schedule. According to the author,
there are, however, three fundamental dimensions: Cost—how
much money that will be spent and how it’s budgeted over time;
time—how long it will take to execute work; and scope—what
is to be done.
Heerkens draws a clear distinction for the words—uncertainty,
risk and threat—that are normally substituted for one another.
“Uncertainty is an absence of information, knowledge or understanding,
regarding the outcome of an action, decision or event. Risk is actually
a measure of the amount of uncertainty that exists. It’s directly
tied to information. Threat is necessarily negative effects of risks
(while positive effects are what we call opportunities).
The author says that risks and uncertainty require
the ongoing attention of the project managers. “Risk management
is not just a process—it’s a mindset. The much famous
programme evaluation and review technique (PERT) is among a few
other techniques described in connection with risk management.”
The lucid way of describing the project control
methods is one of the interesting offerings of the book: “The
term control has several meanings. Those new to project management
are initially dismayed by the use of the term “control”,
because they mistakenly equate it with the concept of authority.
In the world of project management, control has very little to do
with telling people what to do, dictating their actions or thoughts,
or trying to force them behave in a certain way—all of which
are common interpretations of control.”
In project management, the term “control”
is much more analogous to steering a ship. It’s about continually
making course adjustments with one main objective in mind—bringing
the ship into safe harbour, as promised at the start of the voyage.
And the successful project voyage includes identifying a specific
destination, carefully charting a course to get there, evaluating
your location throughout the voyage, and keeping a watchful eye
on what lies ahead.
Brad after completing his project successfully,
learned that life as a project manager is all about getting things
done through others—a radical departure from his previous job
duties. The check-list (for project managers) of the final chapter
of the book says, “Early termination of a project—as long
as it is done for the right business reasons – should be viewed
as a success not a failure.” It insists, “Transfer everything
you have learned to others within your organisation who may benefit
from your experiences—good or bad!”
sankar@expresscomputeronline.com
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