On Motivation

“What obstacles do project managers face to successful completion of an Information Technology project?”

Senior Management Consultant;

“I think there are potentially lots of answers to this but for me they all come back to it being a good idea at the time that no one really tests and excessive egos. My favourite project is a good example of this for despite the mountain of documents describing in minute detail what the requirements where the requirements and solution were fundamentally flawed. The idea was based on a marketing demonstration and the chosen technical solution was infeasible. Anyone who said so was told they were wrong and to do what they were told. The end result after the business and technical sponsors left was that the project ground to a halt and sits unloved by all. In the end a business idea and solution should be sustainable in their own right and not survive simply because of the egos.”

MüTō Observation:

You’ve managed to describe nearly every project I’ve encountered. If left to its own devices, a project will be ill-conceived from the get-go. Blame it on communications. Or more succinctly put, un-chaperoned communication. The Chaperone, in this case, would be the Project Manager.

Fundamentally, the main responsibility of the Project Manager during the ‘planning’ of a project is to be the Facilitator of all discussions. Questions to the suppliers like “Do you understand the requirements?” and to the sponsors like “Does the solution feel right to you?” will go a long way to make certain everyone is on the right page.

Sponsors do not want to fail. Ego’s can be used positively to support success! For example: “I’ll shut-up once you tell me whether you can describe the solution at a high level.” Will go a long way towards either an open discussion…or a change of jobs.

One of the hardest things a project manager has to do is “choose their battle.”