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When a Project Has No End
May 5, 2010 | Author: PM Hut | Filed under: Project Management Musings
When a Project Has No End
By John Gough
Question: When is a project not a project?
Answer: When it has no end.
Projects are meant to be defined periods of activity, otherwise projects would be just work and that would be no fun.
When we are presented with Gantt charts that start the project in the the top left hand corner, and then slowly work their way to the bottom left of the page like an elegant regency staircase, we are always curious.
Because too often project managers try to deliver the whole package, in one lump at some future date, and that does not always work. Especially if the lump is very big, and the future is a long way off. Projects are like pineapples, they are best consumed in chunks.
The frightening challenge for any project manager is to get ahead of the rule around project requirements. Project requirements change on average around 5% / month. This means that by the end of the first year, half the requirements are no longer relevant, and by the second year, the likelihood is, that the project if restarted would have delivered different things. Its just a fact of life, the world moves on, so why should we expect project requirements to stand still.
There is an old adage that you should not try and eat anything bigger than your own head, and that goes for projects too. Chunking the project to create a constant stream of deliverables, creates momentum, delivers benefits to the client fast, and keeps the project relevant.
John Gough works with major organisations in both the public and private sector to make change happen. John is the Principal Consultant & Director of iJounery, a Project Management consulting company.
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