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The Purposes and Methods of Practical Project Categorization - Part III - Ad Hoc versus Systematic Project Categorization
January 2, 2008 | Author: PM Hut | Filed under: Miscellaneous
The Purposes and Methods of Practical Project Categorization - Part III - Ad Hoc versus Systematic Project Categorization (#3 in the series The Purposes and Methods of Practical Project Categorization)
By Dr. Russell Archibald
One approach to continued development of the discipline of PM is simply to allow this ad hoc segmentation or categorization to continue as it has for the past several decades. Some will argue that this actually has been going on since the inception of the age of modern project management in the 1960s. This ad hoc approach will no doubt continue to produce some beneficial results, but these results can be predicted to be somewhat uneven, perhaps wasteful of duplicate effort, and certainly un-systematic.
A systematic approach to this question is believed to be more desirable, since this will accelerate the progress and related improvements in the PM discipline, avoid duplicate efforts, and help to assure that all pertinent factors have been considered.
Research to date (see Crawford et al 2002, 2004, 2005 and others; see Figure 2) shows that there are many characteristics and attributes of projects that can be used, and in fact are being used, to categorize and/or classify projects. There are also many purposes and uses of the various categorizations. Crawford et al also make the point that it is not practical to categorize projects without considering the purpose of such categorization. A systematic approach to this problem requires that the purposes and the methods of project categorization/classification be interrelated.
| Application area or product | Stage of life-cycle | Grouped or single |
| Strategic importance | Strategic driver | Geography |
| Scope | Timing | Uncertainty |
| Risk | Complexity | Customer |
| Ownership | Contractual |
Figure 2: Attributes of projects used in various classification systems.
Source: Crawford et al 2002, 2004
Crawford et al (2004) list these common and specific uses and needs:
Common uses/needs
- A language for naming and discussing
- Facilitating communication
- Storage and retrieval of knowledge
Specific uses/needs
- Research
- Ontological definition
- Comparability
- Building on previous results
- Professional organizations
- Development of BoKs
- Internal organization (SIG structure)
- Market positioning
- Practitioner organizations?
Dr. Russell D. Archibald, PhD (Hon), MSc, Fellow PMI and APM/IPMA, PMP, is one of the six founding members of the Project Management Institute. Now semi-retired, he has many years of management experience in engineering and operations with a variety of major US corporations in Europe and South America as well as the US. He has made major contributions to the understanding of project management, is author of the best selling 2003 book “Managing High-Technology Programs and Projects” (published also in Russian, Chinese, and Italian), has trained more than a thousand program and project managers and project specialists around the world, and has consulted in project management to clients in 14 countries on 4 continents. E-mail: russell_archibald@yahoo.com. Web site: www.russarchibald.com.
Related Articles
- The Purposes and Methods of Practical Project Categorization - Part VIII - Conclusions
- The Purposes and Methods of Practical Project Categorization - Part I - Introduction
- The Purposes and Methods of Practical Project Categorization - Part IV - Proposed Matrix for Systematic Categorization of Projects
- Risky Business Part III
- Project Managers and Vendors: Creating a Successful Partnership - Part III
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