Project management

What separates project management from daily work

Project management is the steering of undertakings with a clear beginning, an end and a defined result. The difference from daily work lies exactly there: daily work repeats, a project does not. That is why a project needs three decisions that daily work does not: what should exist at the end, by when and at what effort.

In online retail the typical projects are building a new shop, connecting an ERP, introducing a PIM, a relaunch or a marketplace launch. What these share is that they touch several areas, last longer than a few weeks and cost more than an ordinary change.

The three decisions

Scope: what belongs in, and more importantly what does not. Without that boundary a project grows until it fails. A list of the things explicitly not part of this round is sensible.

Time: an end date that does not move, or a deliberate way of handling shifts. A date that drifts silently is not a date.

Effort: money and working time, with a named reserve. Projects without a reserve fail on the first unknown, and there are unknowns in every project.

Of these three, only two can be fixed at the same time. Anyone fixing scope and time has to leave effort open. Anyone fixing all three fixes nothing.

The roles needed

• Sponsor: decides on scope and priority and has to be reachable. A project without a decision maker waits.
• Project lead: keeps the overview, plans, reports. One person, not a committee.
• Delivery: the people doing the work. With external providers, with clear contacts.
• Business side: the person who will work with it afterwards and knows the requirements. Without them the result works technically and is not used practically.

Where projects fail

The most common reason is scope that grows afterwards. Good ideas appear during the work and each single one sounds small. In total they move the date and blow the effort. A simple rule helps: everything not in scope is collected and assessed after the project.

The second reason is the missing decision. When three people have to agree and nobody may decide, an open point stays open. The third reason is the missing acceptance. Without a defined check for when the result is done, the finish drags, because something is always found. The fourth reason is the missing operation: a result nobody is responsible for decays after handover.

What must exist at the end

Three things separate a closed project from one that merely ends. First the documentation, meaning a description of what was built and how it is maintained. Second the handover into operation with a named person and a briefing. Third the review: what was achieved, what took longer, what would be done differently. The third point is left out most often and is the only one the next project learns from.

Frequent questions

• Do I need a method? For manageable undertakings a schedule with owners is enough.
• How often to report? On a steady rhythm, briefly, with open points and decisions.
• What if the date cannot be held? Raise it early and cut scope rather than move the date.