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Little Or No Implementation Plan - Project Management Mistake # 9

September 3, 2008 | Author: admin | Filed under: Risk Management, Project Plan Development, Project Management Musings

Little Or No Implementation Plan - Project Management Mistake # 9 (#9 in the series 15 Deadly Project Management Mistakes Government Agencies Make Which Cost Them Revenue, Time & Efficiency)
By Keith Mathis - PM Expert Live

Implementation of the project is very important in order to keep it current. Most participants verbalize they have a schedule created but have no implementation plan to drive each phase of the project.
After a WBS has been created, it is important to spend time in designing an implementation plan. An implementation plan is defined as a plan created with dates and times for starting each section of the WBS. Implementation plans work best when you also have people designated to accomplish whatever work you have assigned.

Objectives of implementation plan

The implementation plan is used to make every section of the WBS function as easy as possible. It is created to make sure that all roles and responsibilities are clear to the individuals, as well as dates, times, and sequence for running the project. When an implementation plan is created correctly, it allows all team members to understand what is happening in the project and when they can expect their duties to begin.

How and when to implement

Implementation must be conducted in a very structured and calculated away. This means that the project team must be very realistic in designating who should do a particular portion of the project as well as when it should begun. In some cases, the project team will build in a certain level of contingency time in order to assist the project timeline. This means that a project team might examine the earliest time an activity can start, the latest time an activity can start, and calculate the median time for most dates. This method is used by many experienced project managers and their project teams. Its strength is that dates and times are being calculated with small amounts of contingency time built into the plan.

Implementation failure happens due to six main reasons. Each of these reasons can be overcome if proper steps have been taken on the front end of the project to prevent them from coming about in the first place.

Reason #1 – Not making a decision until it is too late

Project teams struggle with decisions throughout the project. However, some are plagued with an uphill battle in making the right decision. They are trying to consistently run a perfect project and make sure they never make a mistake. This is normally done because the project team is trying desperately not to be blamed for failure or the lack of progress in the project direction. Fear of making the decision will sometimes cause people to panic, and they are consistently trying to play it safe. Playing it safe will not always produce the best solution.

Reason #2 – Waiting too long for data

Waiting too long for data is normally committed by cogitators on the team who desire solid information before making a decision. Correct information is a wonderful thing to assist in working on a project; however, there are some instances where that information is coming far too slow or is nonexistent. Refusal to make a decision is in itself a decision. Each project team needs to understand that their refusal could kill the project faster than making a decision on limited knowledge. With all the resources that we presently have in our culture and organization, we should have a good idea of what needs to be done even when data is sparse. Obviously, we would love to work on perfect projects with this great amount of correct data to make the right decision every time.

Reason #3 – Upper management goes in and redirects the plan

We often hear of situations where upper management will violate a project plan with autocratic orders and go in a new direction. Many times this direction makes no sense to the project team and has been brought about with no communication indicating what has created this change. Our clients typically report this has been very common in the workplace. They indicate that communication is only in a top-down manner, and they are unable to give feedback to their boss in a receptive manner. During one training session, a participant indicated that some projects changed over and over again due to upper management making unscheduled and un-communicated changes to the plan. This in no way means that upper management does not need to make changes from time to time and to usurp authority over previous plans. However, this works best when the project team has been kept in the communication loop, and they understand what the real goal and motivation this change revolves around.

Reason #4 – Jumping from one priority and focus to another during the project

Priority management is one of the hardest things to do when running multiple projects. It is not uncommon for individuals to jump from focus to focus and project to project based on the crisis at the moment. Sometimes, when examining the project, you can determine that the reason they are struggling is because there is a trend in putting this project second based on the crisis of the day. We tend to favor projects that have an immediate crisis and treat them as if they are the highest priority. The frustration with this is that projects which are lower on the priority list are sometimes treated with the same level of urgency as strategic projects. Running projects based on crisis confuses the project team and reduces the potential that other projects will be on time and budget.

Priority management of the project must be clear and concise. Each team member must remember which projects have the highest priority even though they have to deal with the crisis of the day. This means if priorities have really changed, the team must understand the new order projects are going to be running.

Reason #5 – Sabotage by internal fighting from individuals in the organization

An additional reason for implementation failure is due to organizational sabotage and fighting. This happens when one department does not see the need to provide support for another department’s project. An example of this is when one project is of highest priority for you but is a secondary priority for the people assisting you. When you become our client, we focus on this area and discuss ways to reduce internal fighting from individuals as well as break down the silo effect throughout your organization. Learning this skill naturally opens up communication and increases the potential success for your project. This process also builds higher morale throughout the agency.

Reason #6 – Failure to train the project team

Training is a needed skill to make sure that the project team is running in a proper fashion. The type of training will differ depending on the skill level and expertise of team members. A good way to train your team is to make it part of your normal project team meetings. We have encouraged our clients to plan to update skills by conducting 15 to 30 minutes of training periodically in their team meetings. This can be as brief as handing out articles on a particular topic to as deep as a multi-slide presentation with handouts. Regardless of what you do, you want to consistently expand the skills and application of your project team.

As you can see, each of these six reasons for implementation failure can happen to any project team regardless of how high functioning they have been in the past. A good implementation plan will reduce your failure rate and speed up your project time as much as 3% to 20%. The increase will depend on the priority of the project and how well the project team fulfills the desired plan. Regardless, each project should have a detailed implementation plan with a thorough examination of these areas that have caused others to fail.

Dr. Keith Mathis, founder and CEO of The Mathis Group, specializes in Project Management, Management Leadership, and Marketing training for private businesses and government agencies of all kinds. He offers 33 Project Management courses, is a Project Management Professional, is certified by the Project Management Institute and will customize every training session to your individual company’s needs. The Mathis Group also sponsors www.pmexpertlive.com, which is a powerful project management resource with free reports, podcasts, videos, and a monthly newsletter. He also offers customized management training and coaching on any subject with prolific communication and professionalism.

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