Everyone knows that one of the keys to getting projects planned and underway is to define each project’s scope. Scoping a project, at minimum, is defining the project’s purpose, stakeholders, and delivery date, and then determining the time, dollars, and resources needed to get the job done.
If anyone ever starts a discussion with me about favorite colleagues in our careers, my No. 1 top colleague has to be Elizabeth Templeton, the associate program director of the Master of Science in Information Assurance (MSIA) and Master of Science in Business Continuity (MSBC) programs in the School of Graduate and Continuing Studies at Norwich University. Elizabeth was telling me recently about the headings on her white board for thinking about a project and chuckling over the metaphors she and her colleagues have been using; I convinced her to write up the idea because I think readers will enjoy her writing and may be able to think about their own projects with creative metaphors. Everything that follows is entirely Elizabeth’s own work: she writes so well I had to change nothing at all.
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Everyone knows that one of the keys to getting projects planned and underway is to define each project’s scope. Scoping a project, at minimum, is defining the project’s purpose, stakeholders, and delivery date, and then determining the time, dollars, and resources needed to get the job done.
Still, when the list of projects is as long as your arm, and the projects appear to be all over the map, and most of them are pretty important, scope doesn’t answer the questions “Where do we start?” and “How do we start?” Most of the time, projects aren’t executed sequentially. Often we will have several projects going at once.
Not only that, but most of us will have projects going that involve people outside of our departments. Those people could be stakeholders with approval authority, colleagues whose valuable knowledge is a key to success, or a manager whose job has her on the road most of the time. Getting projects done not only requires clear scope definitions, but a good grasp of how much coordination and collaboration will be needed.
Another important factor is understanding the level of effort required. Your project’s scope may have estimated the number of work hours required, and where the collaboration occurs, but what kind of work is it? How much is direct individual effort? How much is group work? How much is meeting and negotiating? How much is research? How much is planning and strategizing? Each of these kinds of work can be assigned the identical amount of time, but when that time is up the level of effort will directly affect whether the outcomes are complete, well under way, or barely begun.
My job requires me to focus on a single area of operation. Within that operation are a wide variety of activities. My whiteboard has been filled with tasks, large and small. There are one-person projects, projects that need planning, projects that need decision and direction, projects that need group work, delegation, and follow-through. There are improvements to be made and new initiatives to consider. My manager and I spent a lot of time trying to find Project #1, then Project #2, and we were spinning our wheels.
One big project involves changes to existing processes. “You know,” he said, “it’s hard to remodel the plane while it’s in the air.” Another big project requires significant group work with team members at many remote locations. “Managing that project,” I said, “is going to be like herding cats.”
Laughter lightened the moment and cleared the air, and then we looked at one another. We had just identified two levels of effort. We had just recognized the management issues we would face as we figured out how much collaboration and coordination each project would need. We realized that at least two projects have components both on the plane and among the cats.
Later in the day, I saw some small projects that have been hanging unfinished for far too long, and need to get off our project list. They need to be dealt with at once. So now the whiteboard has three columns on it:
1. Herding Cats
2. Remodeling the Plane in the Air
3. Mosquitos in the Room
These metaphors are far more useful than “Long/Medium/Short term” and more useful than “This month, next quarter, next year”. So far, the whiteboard projects fall pretty neatly into those columns. These metaphors don’t replace proper project management techniques, but they remind us, in very few words, how we’ll have to approach the work that will make our projects successful.
Now we can get started. What kinds of metaphors could help you get your projects started?
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Elizabeth Templeton joined the Norwich University School of Graduate and Continuing Studies in 2004, after a 30-plus-year career as an applications programmer. She became associate program director for the MSIA program in 2009. She has been privileged to work with MSIA Program Directors Mich Kabay and John Orlando, and is now privileged to work with Program Director Gary Kessler. In earlier career iterations, she has been a teacher of adult learners (programming, English, writing), a proofreader, an editor, and a gardener.
